Family for dummies
by 2910leiv
Summary: Sequel to "Then came Janto with a baby carriage". After a disastrous first date with a girl, Orion's mate rejects him. His parents are going at it like there is no tomorrow. Training is hard and Lartorc is still on the loose. Could it get any worse?
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome back readers. As promised here is the sequel to "Then came Janto with a baby carriage". If you haven't read that one yet, go read that first or this story won't make sense.**

**Warnings: AU. Orion-centric. Mature contents, language. Slash/het, lemons, light bdsm. If you don't like this, don't bother reading it. The lemons will be clearly marked, so they can be skipped. **

**Summary: Orion is now an adolescent with everything that entails.**

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Torchwood/Doctor Who. I'm just borrowing it.**

Chapter 1 There's a first time for everything

It was May and a glorious sunlit day. The flowers were blooming and the people of Cardiff had taken to walking outside without their coats on. The day was rather warm, thus Rhiannon had decided to take Xarion and the kids on a picnic in the park. Xarion had been assigned the task of training Orion in the ways of his mother's people. His grandmother, Rea also taught him various things, though she didn't have the time to do so often.

They were now sitting on a floral patterned blanket with a spread of sandwiches and sodas in front of them. Mica and David were playing chase, laughing loudly as one caught the other. Rhiannon glanced at Orion, sitting across from her. He had grown quite a lot. He was now a budding adolescent and had recently had a growth spurt. He had yet to grow accustomed to his greater height and longer limbs and was therefore unusually clumsy. He seemed to grow more handsome with each passing day. His fathers were still very visible in his appearance. She missed how he used to play with the other two children, but she knew that that was how it always goes. Children will and do grow up. Soon her David would also stop playing the games of childhood. She shook the sad thought off and took a deep breath, savouring the wonderful fragrance of flowers and the very essence of spring. Sighing deeply she said:

"Oh, what a lovely day. Listen to those birds. Isn't it just wonderful?" The sound of cola being sprayed across grass caught her attention. She looked at Orion. He was coughing and staring in the direction of the trees.

Orion couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Move you fat arse away, you big tub of lard. Can't you see I'm about to score here?"

"Who are you calling lard? You little pipsqueak. You couldn't score if your mama tied up the chick and told her you were an alpha."

"Hey, this is my spot!"

"Well, now it's mine, dumbass. Get lost."

"Hey gorgeous, you wanna come back to my place and fuck our brains out?"

"Mate? What do you mean you already have a mate? I can make much better babies than he can."

And those were just some of the nicer 'conversations' he heard. He looked frantically to see the plethora of people to go with those voices. But aside from a few joggers, a family on a stroll and some youths playing soccer there were no one to whom the voices could belong. Then he noticed the movement in the trees and bushes. The birds! They were the ones making the racket. He was mortified. They were so… outspoken and rude! How could his aunt say that it was lovely? They weren't singing. They were yelling, and arguing and being downright foul about it. He smirked inwardly at the pun. Maybe that was the reason for the word, he mused. Then he spotted a pair that behaved rather oddly. One bird was behind the other; flapping its wings as if it was trying to hover behind the other. 'What are they…? OH!" his face turned crimson as he realized what those two birds were up to.

"Oh, look at the birds." Mica exclaimed coming up behind him. He twirled in his seat and looked at her and then at where she was pointing. Thankfully it was toward a couple of birds on the ground picking for food. Still blushing he hurriedly turned back to focus on the sandwiches on the blanket and tried his hardest to ignore the insults, profanities and sexually laden suggestions still sounding behind him.

"Quite loud, aren't they?" a low voice whispered so only Orion could hear. He looked at Xarion. The young man was smirking knowingly at him. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it. The animals get a little crazy this time of year. It's natural." Orion nodded. He knew that. The animals didn't have the same morality that people did and it was mating season, but still… The young adolescent squirmed red-faced at the thought of all the matings taking place around him. There was no escaping it. It was all around him. Even the people had started to become more forward in their behaviour, as if they too had a mating season. His face became even more crimson as he remembered how he had walked in on Owen and Tosh making out just last week. He was still not able to look at either of them without blushing. It didn't help either, when Owen had laughed and reminded him of the time Tosh had walked in on his parents in the shower when he was little. As if he needed to be reminded of his parents sex life. He _did_ sleep in the next room from them after all.

There was a tap on his shoulder and Xarion was looking at him expectantly.

"Pardon?" he tried, guessing he had been asked a question. Xarion smiled.

"I asked, if you were done with your food, so we can get back to work." Orion looked at him blankly for a moment, before realizing he still held his half eaten sandwich in his hand. He hurriedly finished the rest of it, not wanting to make his teacher wait any longer. Seeing his pupil ready once more, Xarion cleared his throat and began the lesson.

"Ok, I want you to reach out your mind to feel the park around us. Feel the life that pulses through it." He looked at Orion, who was now sitting with his eyes closed and a look of concentration on his face.

"Can you feel it?" he asked him. The boy nodded. "Good. Describe it to me." The boy frowned slightly.

"The people and the animals are very powerful, almost like they're shouting at the top of their lungs. The plants are… like talking in a normal voice. Not as loud but still right there. It's like the whole park is pulsing with life. Like a lit candle in a dark room. The city around the park is more dampened, but it too is whispering and talking." Xarion nodded, knowing full well what the child meant and how difficult it sometimes was to word such sensations. But it was a part of the exorcise to formulate the impressions into sentences.

"Now turn your attention to the north, outside of town. There is a place that should be abandoned by people and most animals too, but the place is "screaming"." He waited for the boy to find the place. He could see the little beads of sweat rolling of the child's forehead with his exertion. He was panting as if he had been running fast. Inwardly he was cheering the child on. It was a real stretch even for him self to sense the place, for the boy to do so would be a testament of tremendous power. But he believed the boy could do it.

It took a while, but finally the boy said:

"There! There's a mound with a stone monolith on top." Xarion knew it was the right place. He smiled proudly. His mistress would be very pleased when she heard of the boy's reach.

"Yes, that's the place. Sink your awareness into the ground there." He waited. Suddenly Orion flinched back and his eyes flew open.

"What… was… that?" he asked panting heavily. Xarion smiled proudly.

"That was a ley line. It is a series of power lines crisscrossing the world. The places where they cross, called nodes, are often places of great power. On Hallow IV the sacred city of Travesty is built next to one of the most powerful ley line nodes. Here on Earth the ley lines are largely neglected and only a few people are even aware of their existence. Most scoff at the very idea of them." He shook his head at such foolishness. "On Hallow IV it is customary to donate power to the ley lines when one comes of age and again at relevant moments throughout ones life." He smiled and got a far away look in his eyes, as if caught up in a memory.

"This planet is deeply asleep, almost unconscious. You have to really strain yourself to feel it."

"Are you saying this world is alive?" The incredulous voice of Rhiannon cut through the calm. Orion seemed lost in thought, but in reality he was straining to hear the Earth, so far unsuccessfully.

Xarion looked at the woman. She was a type of person, he had long since realised, who only believed what could be proven. She had no use for deities, the transcendental arts or the gifts of the mind. Plonk an alien in front of her and she would believe in their existence. But explain the great mysteries of the universe and the infinite gifts of the Goddess to her and she would refuse to acknowledge their reality. Too bad his mistress Rea had forbidden him to Memory-dump some of his knowledge into the minds of any of the humans.

"It is." He simply stated and she scoffed at him. But before she could say anything further, Orion cried out.

"I can feel it!" The boy had a look of wonder on his face. "It's like it's whispering, yet no one is listening." His expression changed slowly into sadness.

"What does Hallow IV feel like?" he asked after a little while. Xarion smiled greatly.

"That world is very alive. It is like a constant presence where ever you are. You never feel alone on Hallow IV. The world itself is bursting with life, screaming at the top of its lunges, as you put it." He smiled fondly. "To members of the Fourth House especially the communion with the world is an almost sacred act. The world, being closer than a relative to us, is a source of strength, tranquillity and comfort to us."

"Communion? You talk to it?" Orion asked.

"Yes. But more than that." Seeing the question in Orion's eyes, he elaborated. "You where straining to feel the ley line and the world. It took a lot of effort. But we can boost our power from the power of the world. Reach your awareness into the ground, search for power there." Again he observed Orion scrunching up his face in concentration. He reached out his own awareness and felt Orion's presence along with their surroundings. He felt Orion reach down into the ground and gave him a mental nudge in the right direction. The boy startled a little, having focused so much on his task that he had failed to notice the other's presence. He could feel power all around, but muted, more subtle than the power concentration Xarion was steering him toward.

Once there Xarion showed him how to tap into the power. Orion hesitated though, instinctively feeling the danger. If he wasn't very careful he could get hurt. Just like when working with electricity, he mused. Ever so delicately he reached out and tapped into the power. He felt it rush into him, filling him up. His heart began pounding. With a great jerk he released his touch on the power and the great influx seized. He returned to his normal awareness and once more saw the park around him. He felt amazing. He felt like he could run a marathon, a triathlon _and_ an ironman race all in one day. The energy was practically buzzing inside him, like a wasp stuck in a bottle.

"Now imagine that it had been a ley line or a ley node." Xarion said gently, with a knowing smile. He almost felt sorry for the boy's fathers, who would have to deal with a very hyperactive teen for the next several hours. Though the boy nodded his understanding it was clear his mind wasn't on the lesson anymore. Xarion decided that it might be a good idea to reduce some of excess energy, since it was his idea to begin with. He focused his mind and gathered the molecules in the air, altered and compacted them until he finally had a soccer ball in his hands. During his stay on this planet he had discovered a liking for that particular game.

"Best three out five?" he asked.

xxXxx

The café wasn't too crowded. It was afternoon, so people had already eaten lunch and where still at work. The patrons were a few groups of teenagers, an elderly man and some tourists, speaking loudly in some foreign language. They were scattered around the various seats, staying out of each others way. Ianto looked around. The place was as clean as could be expected of such an establishment, he supposed. He would have preferred to go to a proper restaurant, but had been out voted by the others. Jack, Owen, Tosh and Orion were right behind him. He could feel Jack's hand on his arse as they walked over to a table by the far side wall. Jack was laughing loudly at something Owen had said. Toshiko and Orion were discussing something between themselves and he guessed it had to do with the latest piece of tech to come their way.

He smiled contently. They were sometimes loud and got on each others nerves, but they were a team and a family. He thought how it had been just a year ago. They hadn't had Orion back then. Owen and Toshiko weren't a couple. And he and Gwen had been rivals for Jack's affections. Well, not really. He and Jack had been close then, but Gwen was always around trying to insinuate her self in his place. Thank goodness that was over with. Gwen had left them alone since Christmas and was now busy planning her wedding to Rhys.

He smiled to himself at the thought of the wedding he and Jack would have. If they ever got around to it, that is. It seemed as if there was always something getting in the way. Rift spikes, weevil sightings and the occasional alien invasion just to name a few.

"What are you smiling at, love?" Jack asked with a soft smile and warmth in his eyes. He was sitting to his right at the end of the table. Owen was on his left with Toshiko beside him and Orion was across from him.

"Weddings." He said softly and blushed slightly as Jack grabbed his hand and brought it to his lips. Owen rolled his eyes, while Toshiko smiled at them. Orion was practically beaming. The waitress chose that moment to approach them to take their order. They chose coffees for the adults, tea for Orion and an assortment of cakes for all of them. They were celebrating the latest success for Torchwood. The would-be alien invasion was prevented without loss of life or the detection by the rest of mankind.

As they were waiting for their order to arrive they became aware of loud group of teenagers over at the other side of the café. They were goofing around, yelling and laughing loudly. Another smaller group in the middle of the room seemed to be the focal point for them. They looked as if they were trying hard to ignore the loud group and go about their own business. The loud group was mocking and teasing them. When Orion got up and went to the lavatory he was followed by loud catcalls and jeering looks from the girls in the group. He could still hear them as he finished up. That was when Orion decided that enough was enough. Quietly he snuck up to the door, opened it a crack and glanced into the room.

In the middle of the room the quiet group was still stoically ignoring the obnoxiously loud group. He could see one girl facing toward him. She was medium height, normal built and weight. Her features normal, yet pretty. Her hair a brown colour and her clothes looked the same as what everyone else was wearing. She was in short a plain, normal, indistinguishable wall flower. He could tell the taunting of the others was getting to her. She was looking down at the table, blushing slightly. He made up his mind and with confidence he strode out into the room, walked straight past the loud group and stopped right by the girl. She looked up at him, startled.

"I don't believe it!" he practically yelled, silencing the room. He could feel everyone's attention on him and he forced himself not to blush. "It's you!" He swooped in and gave her a quick hug and whispered in her ear: "Play along." Her eyes widened and she had turned stiff as board.

"I haven't seen you for ages!" he said loudly to the room again, as he stood back up. "How have you been?" before she could even open her mouth to answer, he continued: "I know things didn't work out so well back then, but I was hoping you would give me a second chance." She gave him a rather obvious look of confusion and slight fear. He had to do something quick to prevent the situation from crumbling between his fingers. He turned on the Harkness smile at full blast and looked pleadingly at her. "Please?" She blushed profusely, looking bashfully at him. "Please? I'm a lot older now, more mature. What do you say? Just one date." He winked at her. Her friends stared at them and the room was quiet. She swallowed hard and nodded. He smiled the trademark Harkness smile at her and let out a whoop just for good measure. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the previously loud group. They were whispering among themselves, looking incredulous at him and the girl. The girl caught him looking at them and she smiled softly.

He pulled out his mobile and asked her for her number, and more quietly for her name. He could barely hear her when she whispered her number and told him her name was Aimee. He typed it in. Then he grabbed her hand and kissed it, making her turn a dark red again. With that he said:

"Until then." And went back to his own table. His Daddy ruffled his hair and proudly proclaimed:

"That's my boy!"

"Way to get a phone number." Owen said and toasted him with his coffee cup. Toshiko laughed and swatted Owen's arm. His Tad was smiling at him. Orion could tell his Tad knew why he had done it and that he approved.

"Aww, our son's first date." Jack said, throwing his arm around Ianto's shoulder and looking at Orion with a teasing smile. Orion paled and felt his blood run cold with shock as he suddenly realised that he would have to go on the date with the girl. _I have a date!_

"Shit!" he said without meaning to.

"Oi, language!" Ianto said, as the rest of his family laughed.

xxXxx

It took him a full two days before he plucked up the courage to call the girl. With a shaking hand he dialled the number and secretly hoped that she wouldn't answer or that she would tell him not to bother, that she didn't want to go on a date after all now she'd had time to think about it.

"Hello?" her voice sounded over the line as it connected. He almost dropped the phone from sheer nerves.

"Hello, i…is this Aimee? It's Orion… you know… the guy from the café the other day?" his voice shook and he cursed inwardly for being such a coward. 'She's just a girl. It's not like she's some sort of acid spewing alien, like the one from last week. Now that had been some scary alien', but now was not the time to reminisce and he turned his attention back to the call.

"Yes… I remember you." He noticed her hesitation and wondered why. He of course couldn't see the excited faces she was making to her friend and she had managed to keep her voice calm.

"Oh… that… that's good." He cursed again inwardly at his sudden inability to speak. "Um, so I was wondering… if you wanted to go on that date?" he managed to stumble out. "I mean," he added hurriedly, not wanting to sound needy. "This Friday? If you want to go out this Friday?" he almost sighed with relief at getting the words out. 'Get a grip, Orion' he thought as he waited for her answer. There was an odd scuffling sound and some sort of squeak in the background. 'Maybe her phone's on the blink or it's a bad line…?' he thought. He didn't see, Aimee's friend rolling on the bed, kicking her feet in the air and her hand clamped over her mouth. Nor did he see Aimee herself twirl and make an excited gesture in the air.

"Friday sounds good." She said. "Where do you want to go?"

He paled. He hadn't thought about that. He had no idea were young people would go on dates. He knew his parents liked to go out to eat, but that seemed too romantic. And he couldn't take her clubbing like Owen would do. They would never be allowed in.

"Um, I'm not sure…" he finally admitted, when his silence began to be awkward.

"Well, there was this party I had sort of planned to go to with my friends. It's someone from school. Their folks are away for the weekend. Everybody who's everybody is going to be there." She was sounding excited now. He thought about it. It would be loud, crowded and public.

"That sounds perfect." He said and now he could definitely hear some ruckus in the background. He smiled. "So what time do I pick you up?"

"Oh! Um… well… would you mind meeting me there?" He frowned. 'Was that how dates normally went?' she rushed to add: "Um, you see, my dad, he's terribly protective of me and doesn't want me to date yet." She sounded anxious. 'Well, I don't want her to get into trouble' he thought.

"No, I don't mind. I can meet you out front. At twenty hundred hours."

"Uh, when?"

"8 o'clock."

"Oh. Okay." There was an awkward pause and he was just about to say goodbye, when he realised:

"Oh, what's the address? For the party?"

"It's in Grangetown." And she told him the address. Again an awkward pause.

"Well… okay… so I'll see you then… then." He blushed at his stupid sentence. He could practically hear her smile as she said:

"Yeah. See ya. Bye."

"Bye." He mumbled as the line went dead.

xxXxx

The week moved at a fast pace. He had lessons with Xarion and his grandmother and he helped Rhiannon with minding the tourist office. It was busier now the tourists were streaming into the city. He also helped out in the Hub once in a while, doing odd jobs. Nothing dangerous or terribly exciting. His Tad wouldn't allow it. Though he had gone on a weevil chase with his Daddy once. They just hadn't told his Tad about it.

On Tuesday Rhiannon took him shopping for clothes to wear on his date. She'd gotten him a pair of black tight jeans, a button down shirt in dark gray with black pinstripes and some black leather shoes. He had spotted a leather motorcycle jacket in a shop window and fell in love with it. He knew Rhiannon couldn't afford it and his parents wouldn't give it to him, saying it was much to adult for him. All his complaints about how he would be an adult in just a few short months didn't pan out, as his Tad had yelled at him and told him that he shouldn't be in such a hurry to grow up and had stormed out of the room. His Daddy had yelled at him for upsetting his Tad and had left to go calm his fiancée.

He had then asked Xarion to conjure up the jacket for him. Xarion had given him a long lecture on how he should learn how to conjure up things for himself and followed it with lessons every day all day long on molecular reconfiguration and deconstruction. It wasn't until Friday afternoon, when all he had been able to do was turn one kind of metal rod into another kind of metal rod, that Xarion took pity on him and conjured the jacket for him. He still had the continued lessons to look forward to on Monday.

It wasn't that he didn't want to learn. He really did. It was just that it was _so_ hard. He just didn't seem able to do it consciously. He could do it to his existing clothes without thinking, when he changed his shape or by accident sometimes, like that time he turned David's clothes pink or when he made Owen's clothes disappear. He chuckled at the memory.

Owen had had a fight with Toshiko and was taking it out on the whole team. They had been called out on mission in the Brecon Beacons in the middle of a downpour. Owen had slipped and fallen into the mud. Orion had heard him complain all the way back over the comms and when they finally arrived back at the Hub, Owen made one complaint to many and Orion lost his temper and made the man's clothes disappear. He had stood there as naked as the day he'd been born.

Orion chuckled again and bent down to put on his new shoes.

"What are you grinning at?" his Daddy asked him. He was standing in the door watching him. Orion smiled at him.

"I was remembering when I made Owen's clothes vanish." Jack laughed.

"That was a sight!"

"Oh? I didn't think you got to see too much before Tad covered you eyes." He joked. In reality Owen had grabbed a file to cover up his privates and run downstairs to the locker rooms. Jack only just entered the room to see Owen disappear round the door.

"Oh, ye of little faith… I was able to peak through his fingers." They both laughed at the joke. Orion got up from the bed where he had been sitting while tying his shoes.

"Oh look at you! You look handsome." He said and did a twirl with his index finger. Orion turned around slowly. "Very nice. She'll be lucky girl."

"Oh Daddy, it's not like that." Orion blushed. Jack gave his son a mock-stern look.

"Are you or are you not going to a party with a girl?"

"I am, but…"

"Then it _is_ like that." Jack said firmly. Orion sighed. He sure hoped the girl didn't see it like that. Jack smiled greatly at him. "Come on, let's show you off to the others." With that he put his arm around his son and they headed for the stairs.

Up in the Hub Ianto was feeding Myfanwy, who was happily guzzling down her dinner of fish and beef. The others were finishing up for the day at their workstations. When Orion and Jack came into the room there were various exclamations and they made a lot of fuss about how grown up he looked and how stylish his new clothes were. His Tad gave him a bear hug and his Daddy practically had to pry him off. They all wished him good luck on his date and just before he was going to Jump (teleport) away, Owen stuffed something into his hand and told him not to forget.

Then he Jumped.

He arrived at a secluded area down the street from the party. He could hear the music and the loud noise of the people attending. He sighed deeply. That had been worse than he thought. He didn't think they would make such a fuss. He was only going to a party. With a girl. On a date. He took another deep breath and tried not to panic. 'Is it too late to call it off?' He looked down at the objects Owen had stuffed into his hand. He paled.

It was a couple of condoms.

"Shit!"


	2. Ch2 Rewards and punishment

**Warning: this chapter USED To contains a graphic lemon with light BDSM. It has been removed according to the censorship on this site.**

Chapter 2 Rewards and punishment

He drew a deep breath and walked out into the street. He could see the girl arriving with her friends walking up to the house from the other direction. He smiled at her, when she saw him and she waved back at him with a smile. He saw her laugh at something her friend said to her before leaving her alone on the pavement.

"Hello Aimee." He smiled at her. She blushed a little and said

"Hi." They both stood there, not sure how to proceed. He glanced at her.

"You look nice." He told her. And she did. She was wearing a short summers dress in white with pink flowers and she had a denim jacket slung over her arm for later. Her hair was loose and wavy. To be honest she didn't look like she would fit in with the crowd inside the house. Their clothes were all garish and provocative, the adolescent version of playing dress up.

"Thanks. So do you." She blushed. He drew a deep breath again. There was something he needed to square with her before they proceeded. But as he opened his mouth to speak, a car came screeching to halt on the other side of the road. Out of it came the same bunch of obnoxious teenagers from the café. Aimee cringed and Orion steeled himself for trouble.

The group consisted of three boys and three girls. The guys were giving off an attitude of owning the place and a willingness to fight anyone who didn't agree. The girls were dressed like hookers and behaved much the same toward the boys. The girls were stumbling unsteadily along up the garden path on stilettos that were too high for them. The whole group reeked of alcohol. They were laughing and being loud again and Orion couldn't help but sigh inwardly, now having another reason for wanting this night to be over.

"Hey! Look who it is!" One of the boys yelled out, making the others turn. "It's that guy from the other day." They laughed and one of the boys yelled to him.

"Hey good luck getting some from her. She's more uptight than Mother Theresa!" The others roared with laughter. Orion couldn't understand why the boy would speak so derogatorily about his own family, but it made him angry.

"Yeah!" one of the girls said. "Come with me and I'll show you a really good time." She made a rude gesture with her hand and tongue indicating a blowjob.

"Hey! What are you playing at?" one of the boys said and grabbed the girl hard by the upper arm and dragged her into the house. The noise drowned out the girl's response, but they could be seen arguing just inside the house. The other kids soon joined them.

Still fuming Orion forgot there was something he wanted to tell Aimee. Instead he just looked at her and said:

"Come on, I'll get you a drink."

xxXxx

Two and a half hours later they were once again standing outside on the pavement. This time it was just to get away from some of the noise. They had drunk some of the spiked punch, some sodas and Orion had even tried one of the beers. He didn't like it though, and was quite happy with his cola.

"I don't understand why people call that dancing. It's just a bunch of jumping around in the same place and shaking various body parts." He said, making her laugh.

"Yes, but it's kind of exhilarating, like going into a trance. It's like the body moves on its own." Her eyes were gleaming with excitement. She loved dancing.

"You make it sound like a workout session." He grumbled, making her laugh again.

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Well, if I wanted to get a workout I would've just gone for a run or something." She laughed harder. "Dancing should be two people moving in unison, supporting each other, completing each other." He said thinking of when he caught his fathers dancing one night.

"That is so romantic." She said dreamily. He looked down at his feet, feeling a bit flustered.

"Well…" He was trying to formulate the rest of that sentence when he suddenly found the girl quite near him. He stiffened.

She kissed him. For a moment he was too completely stunned to kiss her back, to push her away, to do anything. He supposed it felt nice.

Then his mind caught up with him and he realised what was happening. He pushed her away, panicking. 'Shit! Shitshitshitshitshit' he began to hyperventilate as he barely noticed the girl's hurt expression. He had reason to panic, though. Inside he could feel his bondmate react. An acute feeling of hurt and betrayal flowed through the bond. 'Shitshitshit!' Next thing he knew someone pushed him. He brought his mind back to the outside world, only to see a very angry Aimee turning and walking away.

"Aimee!" he ran after her and blocked her, preventing her from leaving. She was crying. Damn, he hadn't wanted this. He had tried to tell her. He sighed. It was his fault. He should have insisted on telling her. "Aimee, please listen to me." She moved to walk around him and he blocked her again. "Aimee, I'm sorry. I should have told you." He could see her react to that. It hadn't been what she had expected. She stood still, listening but not looking at him. Encouraged he continued:

"I'm sorry if I made you think I was interested in you in that way." She blinked rapidly at the tears forming in her eyes. "I really am. I only wanted to help you deal with those idiots." She closed her eyes, tears still falling. "Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do after all… You're a very nice person and very pretty." A tiny ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. "Any guy would be lucky to have you. Sadly I can't. Not like that." she looked up at him at this. He sighed deeply and ran a hand across his face. 'Here goes.' "I'm betrothed to someone I haven't met yet."

It wasn't a lie, but nor was it entirely accurate either. Technically he was bonded to someone he hadn't met physically yet. According to Saluvian and Micurii'an law he had been married since the birth of his bondmate, as his bondmate was younger than him. But saying he was betrothed in a sort of arranged marriage would come close in a human cultural frame of reference.

Aimee gave him a look of incredulity. Her tears stopping as her surprise and then her anger took their place.

"What? What kind of lame arse excuse is that? Betrothed! Do you really expect me to believe that? How stupid do you think I am? If you didn't want me, you should've just said so. Jerk!" and she stormed off. Orion stood there looking after her, shoulders slumped. He didn't notice the onlookers laughing at his expense nor heard the comments they made.

"But I really am." He whispered.

He looked inwards. His bondmate had closed down the bond as much as they could, basically giving him the cold shoulder. He tried sending his remorse and apologise along the bond, but was met with a resounding rejection. Slowly he dragged himself down the street to the secluded spot and Jumped away.

xxXxx

Back at the Hub Ianto was busy teaching his fiancée a lesson in the benefits of completing ones paperwork on time. He had been dropping him hints all day at what would happen if they managed to finish all of the paperwork and have it filed away properly, and hints at what wouldn't happen if they failed. Though it had been hard for Jack to concentrate with such alluring suggestions whispered in his ear and the odd concealed grope by Ianto, he had managed it and was now reaping his reward.

**Lemon removed due to censorship on the site. The uncensored chapter can be found on my private homepage www . freec . dk / 2910leiv (just remove the spaces)**

When he came back around he was no longer tied up and Ianto was huffing trying to move him into a better position on the bed. He instantly began chuckling as he realised he must have passed out. He moved and grabbed a hold of Ianto, hugging him.

"Wow… I haven't cum like that, since… a long time." Ianto grinned at him.

"Well, you deserved a bit of a reward. You did finish your paperwork unusually early." He winked. Jack laughed.

"Yeah, that just goes to show, what the right kind of motivation can do." He yawned. Ianto was already half asleep in his arms. Before succumbing to sleep he spared a brief thought to their son and wondered how his date was going. They hadn't heard him come in yet, so it must be going well, he thought with a leer.

xxXxx

Orion was sitting dejectedly on the edge of a tall building. He had been home briefly, but hearing the racket his parents were making, had prompted his departure. He had changed into his dragon form - now the size of a Great Dane, not counting the wing span – and had flown above the city for about an hour. In the end he had landed on this roof, changed back into human form and sat down. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there. The sky was getting lighter, so it was probably around four in the morning. Soon the birds would start their disgusting behaviour again. He grimaced.

Lost in thought he never noticed the police car on the street. Nor did he pay any attention to the fire truck that pulled up a while later. It wasn't until they started rolling out a big air cushion and were filling it, that he began to take an interest. 'What are they up to?' he thought. Suddenly he heard a familiar screech from above. He could just make out the elegant form of Myfanwy gliding through the air. Smiling, he got up from the edge, changed into his dragon form and flew up to meet her. She greeted him delightedly and together they soared.

Behind them a group of people carefully tiptoed out onto the roof. When they couldn't see anybody there, they rushed out and searched all over. The called the people on the ground, who adamantly insisted the suicide jumper hadn't jumped. But the person had mysteriously vanished. Shaking their heads at the mystery, they packed up and left. This was Cardiff. Weird things happened every day here.


	3. Ch3 The healing circle

Chapter 3 The healing circle

Myfanwy glanced at her fledgling curled up in her nest. She was deeply worried about it. It was refusing to eat or fly. It refused all attempt of getting it to go hunt or play. Even her Humans were unsuccessful. Her fledgling just remained in the nest sleeping or staring at nothing. Sometimes it would make distressing noises that just broke her heart. She cooed at it and gave it a little nudge with her beak. It just curled into a tighter ball and the noises got more distressed. With a sigh she looked over the edge of the nest and down to where her human was holding her food bucket, calling her. With another sigh she flopped down beside her fledgling and put her wing around it. Whatever was ailing it maybe her presence could help…

Down on the floor Ianto sighed and stopped calling. He looked over at Gwen who was observing the two "reptilian" residents on the monitor dedicated to displaying the nest. She shook her head. Ianto's shoulders slumped in defeat. It had been going on for days now; ever since the date on Friday. They had yet to learn what had happened. Orion had completely refused to even recognise their presence. They had tried everything. They'd tried talking to him, holding him, leaving him alone, sitting by him; Toshiko had even tried yelling at him, when her frustration got the better of her. Nothing had worked. The only thing they had achieved was to drive him from his room up to Myfanwy's nest. That was the only recognition they had, that he was aware of them. And now he was in his dragon form and curled up in a nest, being miserable.

"Argh, there's got to be something we can do?" Gwen growled in frustration. It was enough to break a person's heart, seeing the kid so miserable. Surely the date hadn't gone _that_ bad? What on Earth could have happened?

"You're not suggesting we shoot him down with a tranquilizer dart, are you?" Owen mocked. "That seems to be your standard solution to everything. Just gun it down and the problem will go away."

"Owen!" Toshiko burst out angrily. The man was outrageously out of line. The woman hadn't suggested that sort of thing in at least… well at least a month!

"Owen, you're not helping." Jack told him and stepped over to Gwen and put a hand on her shoulder. She was looking deeply affronted, that the medic would say such a thing. Jack looked back up toward the nest. "Right, time to call for help." The others looked at him, as he pulled up his sleeve and opened the device strapped to his wrist. While it could no longer transport him through space and time, it could send messages.

"Rea, it's Jack. Xarion had to leave for the week and we need your help. Something's wrong with Orion. He seems deeply depressed and won't respond to anything. He's not eating either. Please come." He sent the message on its way.

xxXxx

Three hours later Ianto was walking around the Hub tidying up. The others had gone out to investigate a sighting in the northern outskirts of town and shouldn't be back for another hour or so. Suddenly he found his path blocked and he almost walked into the obstacle. It was Rea.

"Oh, so sorry about that." She spluttered. "So hard to see were one is going sometimes." She was dressed in some rather unusual garments. Ianto couldn't help but think of them as some sort of ceremonial robes. She was dressed in loose white trousers and a white long sleeved blouse, but over that she wore a knee long tunic with strange swirly patterns. It was actually quite beautiful, he thought. The soft colours were very soothing to the eye.

"I came as soon as I could," she interrupted his contemplations and he blinked to get back on track. Hugging him briefly she continued: "can you tell me what's going on?" Ianto quickly filled her in on the recent events. She seemed to consider this for a long time.

"Where is the boy now?"

"He's up in Myfanwy's nest." He pointed first up at the location of the nest and then went over to the monitor showing what was happening up there. She came over and looked at the sad, yet touching image. Myfanwy was still curled around Orion's dragon form; her beak caressing the top of his front leg in gentle strokes.

"Right." She said and made to Jump. Ianto grabbed a hold of her arm.

"Wait, you can't go up there! Myfanwy would kill you." Rea smiled at him, as she released herself from his grip.

"No, she won't." and then she Jumped.

Ianto jabbed the activation switch on his comm and in a slightly panicked tone of voice said:

"Jack, Rea is here and she's just jumped up into the nest with Myfanwy!"

"Right, were heading our way back now anyway. Step on it, Owen!" Ianto didn't hear the response, as there was a loud furious screech from up above. Frantically he looked at the monitor.

Myfanwy was standing with her wings spread out, in a display meant to strike terror in the beholders. It also served to block any attempt at hurting the fledgling behind her.

"If you want to get to it, you have to go through me!" She screamed at the intruder. "This is MY fledgling and MY nest." The intruder stopped moving. Then it spoke. But it was just more of that gibberish the humans speak. She hissed her warning. And then… the oddest thing happened.

The intruder spoke again, but this time Myfanwy actually understood what the intruder was saying! She almost tumbled over from pure shock. Normally she could only understand a few words the Humans were speaking, like "no" or "food" or "chocolate". She also knew the name her Humans had given her. But that was about it. But now she understood the whole first sentence; every word of it.

"Please, I'm not here to hurt you." It was saying. "I'm only here for the [gibberish - as pteradons don't have the concept for boy]" Myfanwy hissed again, but didn't make a move. She kept glaring at the intruder. "Please, I only want to help. Orion needs help." This made Myfanwy pay extra attention. She knew her fledgling was called Orion by the Humans. Her suspicion waned ever so slightly, though she remained poised to strike if the intruder made a move toward her fledgling. Then the strangest sensation came over her; flooding her system like a great wave, came a sense of utter contentment. She had never felt better, like she was floating on clouds. She gazed dreamily at the intruder, whom she no longer perceived as an intruder at all, but rather as another nest mate. She made no attempt to stop her new nest mate, as it rushed past her and over to the fledgling. She chuckled at the world at large. Why had she been so tense before? She couldn't remember. 'Oh look, a spider!'

When the animal seemed to become distracted by staring at a spider crawling out of the straw of the nest Rea moved to check on her grandson. She knew the buzz the animal was feeling wouldn't last long. She had only triggered the release of a small amount of various natural endorphins in the animal's brain. It would feel a brief high and then return to normal with no ill effects. She looked down at the boy. She had almost laughed when she first saw the form he was in. The dragons were indigenous to Hallow IV, but they were much smaller, about the size of an Earth rat and serving much the same function. They were scavengers and opportunists, and thrived in places without predators. The city authorities were hard pressed to keep the numbers down. 'Orion must have a memory of one from his brief time on Hallow IV' she thought with a sad smile.

Glancing at the animal, who was still mesmerized by the spider, she turned her attention to her grandson. He was just lying there, curled into a tight ball, one wing tugged over his head, hiding his face. Gently she took the wing and pulled it away from his face. It moved without resistance. His eyes were shut, but he wasn't sleeping.

"Orion? It's Rea." She tried. No response. With a soft nod she made her decision. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. At first she was greeted by emptiness, a non-presence where there should have been one. 'He must have withdrawn deeper.' She moved further in until she encountered a presence. 'There he is.' She thought. It was almost like he was curled up into a ball inside his own mind too. She touched him with her awareness and a flood of emotion overwhelmed her and gasping she found her self in the outside world again.

She panted as she tried to make sense of the emotions she had felt. Grief was the strongest. Rejection coming at a close second. But also guilt and remorse. 'What in Miduna's name has happened?' She steeled herself and went back in. This time she was prepared and wasn't shocked away. She spent some time sifting through the emotions, like a gold miner panning for gold. But it didn't really tell her much about the cause. She was just about to pull out to ponder her options, when she noticed something odd. There was something missing.

It was like when you live by the ocean. You are always aware of it in the background and though it is very noisy you never really hear it, unless you concentrate on it. So you only really hear it when the noise is gone, like when there's a calm sea or when you've gone away somewhere. Then of course it's incredibly noisy when you return and you hear it constantly for the first few days until you adjust and it becomes background noise again.

What was missing was the background noise. And not just _any_ background noise either. Full of fear she searched for what she knew should be making a lot of 'noise' but wasn't. The bond to his mate. Some Saluvians and Micurii'ans were bonded from birth; destined to be mated with their bond mate. It was considered a great gift, but it also proved a great peril. If the mate died, the surviving mate was also in risk of following them into death. Not so much from the severed bond, but more from the deep depression that caused them to become suicidal or they simply gave up their will to live.

Her own daughter, Sybille, had gone through that kind of withdrawal, when her bond mate died before they were old enough to consummate the bond. Only the joint effort of the family had pulled her through, but she was never the same person again. She had become wild and promiscuous. The Council had forced her into an arranged marriage, due to the procreation laws, but Lartorc had failed to calm her restlessness and well… 'We all know how _that_ turned out' she thought bitterly and continued her search.

It took her a while before she found it. Orion was in fact curled around it, his presence muffling it to her. The bond still existed, she realised with relief, but it was far from being a healthy, vibrant bond. Like an umbilical cord the bond stretched dimly out to wherever the mate was located. Even to her indirect impressions she felt coldness, where there should have been warmth. 'No wonder the boy is near catatonic!' She withdrew with a heavy sigh. She was going to need help.

When she returned to the outside world she saw the animal sitting quietly off to the side, glaring at her. It had long since come down from it's high and was thankfully not attacking. Rea sent a feeling of calm assurance to it and it cocked its head.

"I need to take him down to the others." She said kindly and sent an image of herself bringing Orion down into the waiting arms of his fathers. Myfanwy startled greatly and flapped her wings in distress. She shook her head at the strange image. But somehow she found she understood. The intruder wanted to bring her fledgling down to her Humans to help it. Distressed she looked at her fledgling. It was still just lying there, not doing anything. If the Humans thought they could help, then she would let them. She moved over to the fledgling, making the intruder tense up, and touched it with her beak. She cooed. Then she flapped her massive wings and took off; making one great arch around the Hub she flew outside and headed for the woods.

xxXxx

"If I ever meet this mate I'm gonna wring its neck!" Owen said furiously. There were various sympathizing expressions around the table. They were all gathered in the meeting room. Rea, the Torchwood team and Rhiannon with her family. Jack had put up a huge fight but Rea had insisted they needed their help. So Rhiannon, Johnny and the two children had been blindfolded and brought down into the Hub. Jack still hadn't decided if he was going to retcon them afterwards. They had a clear agreement that Rhiannon and Co were not allowed in the Hub and he still thought the agreement was valid.

"Now Owen," Rea said reproachfully "while I understand your sentiment, please bear in mind that we don't know the cause of the rejection." Owen scoffed. In his mind there was no valid excuse for dumping _his_ almost-nephew. Not that he would ever admit to caring for the brat. Rea looked sternly at everyone around the table. "I mean it. There is evidence Orion's mate is younger than him and therefore still a child. It is possible his mate doesn't realise the consequences of their actions." She paused. "Not all parents see fit to inform their children of the facts of life." There was various muttered grumblings around the table.

Rea looked around at them. The two children, Mica and David, were standing by their parents seated at the table. Mica had her mother's arm around her and seemed to be taking everything in her strides. The boy, David, stood between their parents and looked rather intimidated. She smiled reassuringly at him.

"Orion's mate isn't the most important thing right now. Helping Orion is. I've asked a healer to come and lead us in what is called a healing circle." They were all looking at her with interest now, protests and anger put aside.

"What that means is, that the loved ones gather into a circle around the person in need and they join a telepathic web. They will be able to communicate through memories, thoughts, emotions, images and sensations; not only with each other but with the one in need as well. The healer's job is to facilitate the web and to guide the loved ones." She looked at them all carefully, trying to gauge their reactions. She knew Humans valued the privacy of their own minds and the thought of telepathic contact often scared them. "We need to reach out to Orion and flood him with love and warmth. We need to give him a reason for living and a substitute for the loss he is feeling."

She gave them time to digest the information. Ianto grabbed a hold of Jack's hand and squeezed it, making Jack smile a little at him. Toshiko was staring at a point in front of her, as if she was trying to burn a hole through the table by use of eyesight alone. Owen was lost in his own thoughts. Gwen looked speculative and it was she who first asked a question.

"This web… as you call it… does that mean we can read each other's minds?"

"No. It's not that type of contact. It's more like a conversation. Just like when you talk out loud, the others can only know what you choose to let them know." There were signs of relief around the table.

"Even if it meant us putting our deepest darkest secrets on display for the world to see, we would do it." Johnny stated calmly with a confident voice. The entire room turned to look at him. With the exception of rugby, he wasn't normally one to make great statements of sentiment. "Orion's our kin. We'll do anything for 'im." They all smiled at him and Rhiannon looked at him with such pride and love, that he almost began blushing like some bleedin' schoolgirl.

"Hear hear!" Mica shouted. And the room laughed, releasing some of the tension.

xxXxx

An hour later Orion had been placed on a mattress on the floor of the Hub. They were all sitting or kneeling around him; each of them touching a part of him as well as touching the person next to them. The healer, Nipyar-tuk, had arrived twenty minutes earlier and had explained the process to them in detail. The physical touch aided the connection to Orion and the web. Rea had explained to Jack and Ianto that Nipyar-tuk was an experienced healer with a specialty in the mind arts. It had also been Nipyar-tuk who had counselled her after the loss of her daughter and grandchildren.

One by one they were linked to form a web. It was an odd sensation Ianto thought, as he felt Jacks presence join him, Gwen and Tosh. Jack radiated such a profound love toward him that it moved him to tears. He revelled in it. Any lingering doubt he might have had in the darkest recesses of his mind disappeared. Jack loved him. There was no question about it. He sent his own feelings back to Jack and smiled through happy tears as he felt Jack's happiness. Then he felt Owen sending him an image of him throwing up in a waste paper basket along with the underlying emotion of friendship. Chuckling he sent Owen the thought 'Aww, I didn't know you cared so much.' He could hear Gwen and Toshiko laughing in the background.

Then the professional presence of the healer took charge and pulled them all along, giving them the direction they needed to go. Ianto could feel Rea's formidable presence focus on Orion and could feel her help Mica send a memory to Orion.

_They were in the park on a sunny day. There were no leaves on the trees and there was still a chill in the air. Orion was looking to be about nine years old. They were dressed in warm snow suits and knitted hats and gloves. They were laughing at something, when Orion suddenly stopped and cried out: "Look! Flowers!" and he rushed over to the nearby bushes. "Oh! Snowdrops!" Mica exclaimed happily when she saw them on the ground. They were the first flowers they had spotted and they signified that soon it would be spring. Orion quickly bent down and pulled the little group of delicate flowers from the ground. _

"_What are you doing?" Rhiannon asked as she approached. Orion broke into the trademark Harkness smile and with a flourishing bow presented the flowers to her, with roots and dirt and all. Smilingly she accepted them and moved off. Turning back Orion saw the slight pout on Mica's face and with a wink he presented her with a single pristine snowdrop. She lit up in a big smile as she took the snowdrop from his hand and held it in her gloved hand all the way home._

Ianto wanted to hug Mica and he sent the sentiment to her, feeling the smile she sent back. Then Gwen sent the memory of the incident in the bathroom at Christmas. The team was a bit taken aback, seeing as how none of them knew what had happened. But Ianto sent them all his happiness at how it had turned out and sent a hug to Gwen as well. Toshiko followed it with the memory of how much fun they had had that night and how they had laughed when Jack 'read' the Torchwood version of 'Twas the night before Christmas'. Rhiannon, Johnny, Mica and David laughed heartily, because they had not heard the story before. The healer made sure their merriment and happiness was sent down the web to Orion.

When they had calmed a little Jack chose to send the memory of Orion's first steps. Ianto watched the memory with tears in his eyes. He had missed that because he had been out shopping for them. He sniffled as he saw baby Orion embrace his Daddy and laughed when Jack realised he had hung up on the Queen and how long it had taken for her to talk to him again. He then chose to share the memory of the flying Christmas tree and how grateful he was they had made it. A wash of supportive emotions flowed his way. Then Johnny shared his memory of Jack dressed in drag after the incident with turning David pink. This time it was Rea, Owen, Gwen and Tosh who had a serious laughing fit.

Then Rhiannon shared the memory of seeing Orion waking up after the long illness and how worried they had all been for him and the other kids, as well as how happy they all were that they were all healthy again. The emotions flowed back and forth, like an ebb and tide. Nipyar-tuk made sure Orion received everything. Rea then shared her memories of Orion's birth and how his mother had looked at him the first time. How happy she had been when she presented him to his siblings. The memories were accompanied by sadness for the loss of her daughter and grandchildren. She shared the memory of sending him away to go to Earth and how unhappy she had been to part with him. She also shared her joy of being reunited with him and getting to know him. A stream of warm emotions and comfort flowed to her.

Toshiko then sent a memory of the first time Orion saw snow. _It was a cold, dark dreary Tuesday morning in February. She had hurried along, so as to get out of the cold weather. It had snowed during the night and the city was busy clearing the roads and sidewalks. As she stomped through the ankle deep snow on the Plass heading over to the tourist office, she was met with the sight of a stunned looking Orion at the door. He was looking like a six or seven year old at the time. He stood there open-mouthed and just gawked at the white blanket. Then, very carefully as if he thought it might hurt him, he crouched down and touched the snow. A look of pure wonder and delight appeared on his face._

_Then the moment was broken and the child rushed out onto the Plass, wearing nothing but his indoor clothing. He kicked up the snow with a laugh and threw him self down and made a snow angel. Just as Toshiko was about to speak and make her presence known a snowball came in out of nowhere and hit her. She turned. It was Owen. And he was busy making a new snowball. 'Oh it's on!' she made her own ball and threw it hard. It struck Owen on the shoulder and he cried out. Orion was laughing, so she made another ball and threw it at him. For a moment he looked stunned at what she had done, and then he caught on and made his own ball and returned fire. The three-way snowball fight lasted only a few minutes, until Rhiannon discovered Orion had run outside, and not properly dressed for it and had yelled for him to come inside that instance._

Then an unusual presence was included into the web and a feeling of cuddling in a nest and then a feeling of joy in soaring through the sky next to each other flowed along the web and down to Orion. Myfanwy! It caused a bit of a stir among the Humans. Rea had felt her presence and included her briefly.

Then another presence made it self known.

Orion's.

They could feel him slowly returning, unfolding him self. The healer sent encouragement to him and they all joined him. Ever so slowly he became aware of what was going on and all the people around him. Timidly he sent out a feeling of love tinged with the feel of a question. '?' An overwhelming wash of positive emotions flowed back to him and he lapped it up. Then he remembered. His bond mate had rejected him! Anguish flooded him again. The circle of loved ones cried out in shared pain and sent love and comfort to him.

Rea couldn't help her self. She broke away from the telepathic group hug and followed the faint bond as far as she dared go. Then she sent out a strong burst of emotion, shattering the barrier the mate had erected to seal of the connection. Rea felt a great satisfaction in the sensation of the bond coming back to life again, the energy of it flowing down the bond like water after removing a blockage in a river. She had been right. The mate had not realised what would happen when rejecting ones mate and had suffered greatly from the withdrawal as well. She sent a feeling of comfort to the mate and withdrew. They would have to sort the rest out for themselves, she knew.

Owen couldn't help himself. He was still angry at this mysterious mate they hadn't known about. Why hadn't they known about it, by the way? And just what had happened to cause this whole debacle? Orion noticed his disgruntlement and cringed. The others hurried to send loving support to him and telepathic versions of glares at Owen, even though several of them echoed the doctor's sentiment, though less obtrusively. Feeling incredibly embarrassed and awkward Orion shared the memory of kiss and the consequences with them. He got the distinct impression of Tosh virtually having to hold Owen back, to prevent him from tearing off after his bond mate.

Both his parents were hugging him, flooding him with understanding, support and love. He was so glad he had them. He knew they would always support him no matter what. He sent them a feeling of embarrassed shame along with an apology for never having told them about his mate. It had just never occurred to him. His mate had been with him for almost as long as he could remember. Its presence was as normal and right as breathing air or flying when he was in his dragon form. That's why it had felt so wrong when they had closed the bond to him. It had felt as if he had been trying to breathe in a room without air. Now the bond was open again he felt he could breathe again. He immersed himself in his parent's telepathic hug, savouring the sensation.

Slowly he became aware of the discordant feeling of pain thrumming along the bond. At first he tried to ignore it, feeling a little vindictive and very hurt by his mate's actions. But in the end he knew he couldn't ignore them. They needed him. With a sigh he pulled away from his parent's telepathic embrace and focused on his bond mate. He could feel how upset they were and the pain they were in. There was a great deal of loneliness, confusion, self recrimination and fear emanating from his mate. He knew they were younger than him and he just couldn't stay mad at them. He was the oldest, so he would have to be the mature one. He mobilized every warm and good feeling he had had before the awful date and sent them along the bond. He also sent forgiveness and a tentative reprimand, a kind of don't-do-it-again feeling.

His mate's response was to break down in a mixture of remorse and relief. Orion sent more warm feelings along the bond, essentially holding his bond mate in a tight hug, until he felt them drift of into sleep. With a sigh he pulled away but kept the connection strong knowing his mate needed to feel him even in sleep.

He found that the others had been pulled out of the web, except for his parents and the faint presence of the healer. Orion sent them the feeling of hunger. It had after all been several days since he last ate something. Laughing his parents sent the promise of pizza to him and one by one the healer pulled them out and disintegrated the web. Orion was once again alone with his bond mate.

He smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, sorry if this got too hippie-touchy-feely for you. <strong>

**Also thank you to those who've reviewed, fav'ed and alerted. I'm tickled pink you still want to read this (continued) story.**


	4. Ch4 Things that go bump in the day

Chapter 4 Things that go bump in the day

"Aaaaaaahh!" The loud bloodcurdling wail sounded somewhere from the bowels of the Hub. The operatives in the central part all froze in the middle of their work. It had only been a few days since the ordeal with Orion and the healing circle, so they were still a bit on edge.

"What the hell was that?" Owen barked from the autopsy bay. They all listened for further signs of the cause of the sound. Toshiko started tapping keys on her keyboard, bringing up a flurry of images on the screen. Nothing. There had been no alarms going off which meant that there was no intruder, no fire, no water leaking in from the bay, no breach of security what so ever. So what could it have been? She looked around. They were all accounted for. Owen was in the autopsy bay, she and Gwen at their workstations, Jack in his office and Ianto was up in the tourist office with Rhiannon and Orion. She checked the dedicated screen. Myfanwy was in her nest, blinking blurry eyed as she had just been woken by the scream.

Jack came out of his office and looked down at them from the stair.

"What's going on? What was that?" he asked.

"We don't know, Jack. There was a scream from down below, but we're all here." Gwen answered. Jack scanned the room as he walked down to join them.

"Ianto and Orion are upstairs." Toshiko forestalled the obvious question. "The CCTV isn't showing anything."

"Keep looking. The sound had to come from somewhere. Gwen, with me." He said and headed toward the stairs to the lower floors, pulling his gun out as he went. Gwen rushed after him.

"Maybe Gwen finally get's to shoot something. She has been getting trigger-anxious lately." Owen remarked when they were out of earshot.

xxXxx

Jack moved swiftly through the hallways, holding his gun at the ready. Gwen moved silently beside him. They made a good team. That is when she could remember who was boss. He swept past a door checking to see if it was still locked. It was. One by one they checked every door, every room and every hallway of the massive place and found absolutely nothing. Exhausted they finally joined the others upstairs.

"Nothing." He said as he collapsed on the sofa. "Not a bloody thing." Gwen flopped down beside him.

"Nothing but a couple of mice and spiders." She added.

"Mice!" Ianto exclaimed and paled. Owen snickered.

"What's the matter? Afraid of a little mouse, Tea-boy?" Ianto glared at him in annoyance.

"No, I'm not. But mice can do a great deal of damage to the archive, both the papers and some of the artefacts." He looked at Jack. "We have to get rid of them." Jack nodded.

"We'll set up some traps for them." He took a sip of the very hot coffee Ianto had brought him. "Meanwhile we still have to figure out where that scream came from and who made it."

"What scream?" Orion said as he approached. His chore in the tourist office was finished for the day and it wasn't yet time for his lesson with Xarion. They filled him in on the mysterious events of the day.

"Why didn't you just call me?" he couldn't help but ask. The adults looked at him and at each other in confusion. Owen smirked.

"That's a good idea! Go change into a pussycat and go catch the mice." Owen's grin was however quickly wiped from his face, when Orion smiled innocently at him and said:

"Like this?" and then he changed into a tiger, gave a low growl deep in his throat and pounced on him. Owen was knocked clean off his feat and onto his back by the great cat. Orion had both front paws on Owens chest and his face close to Owens. There were various startled exclamations in the background, but Orion ignored them. He purred in amusement at Owen's shocked expression. Owen still had his coffee mug in his hand, but the coffee had spilled out on the floor. With his big sandpaper-like tongue Orion licked Owen's face from chin to temple and moved off, letting the man go.

"Orion!" his Tad yelled. Orion flinched and turned to look at him, ducking his head a little. He could tell just by the tone of voice that he was in trouble. "What in the world possessed you to do such a thing?" There was a pause. Then: "You spilled perfectly good coffee all over my clean floor!"

"Hey!" Owen yelled, outraged, as both Gwen, Tosh and Jack burst out laughing. Ianto tried to keep his stern face but had to break down when he saw Owen's expression. In an offer of peace he helped the man to his feet and moments later Owen was laughing as well. He could be a good sport when it suited him. Orion purred loudly with humour and proceeded to lick the coffee up from the floor, earning him another "Orion!" from his Tad.

When the merriment had died down again, Toshiko asked Orion:

"What did you mean with what you said before, that we should just have asked you?" He changed back into his Human form again and shrugged.

"I might have been able to sense what it was."

"Do you think you still could?" Jack asked and Ianto frowned at him. Ianto still didn't want their son to become too involved with Torchwood. He was just a child and even if he had been an adult he wouldn't want him to join. People die young in Torchwood and he wanted his son to have a long, happy – safe - life. Orion looked at them and considered it.

"Maybe." He looked a little doubtful. "I can try."

xxXxx

Orion was walking along the hallways deep in the bowels of the secret underground base. His senses were alert and focused on detecting any signs of life. So far he had encountered 1436 insects of various kinds, 593 spiders of various sizes, 22 mice and rats, 2 weevils (thankfully still locked in their cells), 103 people of various kinds kept in suspended animation down in storage, as well as an uncountable number of dust mites and similar small critters. He stretched out his awareness. The sound had to have come from somewhere. 'Oh spider number 594 and its packed lunch.'

He was on one of the cell block floors, the one that held the two captive weevils. One weevil, Janet, was a permanent resident. He was actually on rather good terms with the creature. He had come in to do some cleaning – a punishment from Xarion – and found the weevil crying from loneliness in its cell. He had found that singing to it helped to calm it down and that it enjoyed his company. Of course, he harboured no misconceptions that the creature wouldn't kill him if it got the chance, but he still came down almost every day to see how it was doing.

He decided to go see it now he was there anyway. Walking down the hall toward the cells, he suddenly became aware of something moving up ahead. His heat sense showed him a small life form about the size of a large rat. But it didn't _feel_ like a rat. He stretched out his mind to it in order to determine if it was a threat or not. He touched upon a tranquil mind and a low intelligence. It reminded him of the grazing animals from the petting zoo Rhiannon had taken him and his cousins to a few months ago. Then suddenly he felt the creature panic and run away. He just managed to catch a glimpse of a turquoise furry something darting into the cell block where Janet and the other weevil were kept.

A moment later two loud screams reverberated among the bare concrete walls. He ran into the room. Both weevils were standing up on the bed platforms and both were still screaming. He could feel the fear emanating from them as if it was an almost physical thing. They were terrified. He quickly scanned the room for the little furry creature. It didn't take him long to spot it. It was cowering in the far corner of the room and it too was radiating fear. It looked like a turquoise ball of fur. He walked over to it, sure now that it wouldn't hurt him. He squatted down and carefully reached out to the little thing.

It was warm to the touch and shivering with fear. He sent a feeling of calm assurance to it as he picked it up. It was curled up so tight he couldn't tell where its head or legs were. Carefully holding it in both hands he got up and walked toward the door. The weevils screamed with renewed vigour when they saw the tiny furball.

"Oh shut up!" he yelled at them, to no effect. He hurried out of the room and down the hall and the weevils stopped their screaming. He could hear the pounding of running feet coming closer. Suddenly his Daddy came tearing around the corner, gun pointed straight at him and the others were right behind him. Orion didn't flinch, but just focused on projecting calm to the little creature in his hands. Jack came to an abrupt halt, causing Gwen to bump into him.

"Wha…" Jack managed. Orion smiled at them.

"It's okay. It was the weevils that were screaming - every time this little fellow came into their line of sight."

"Oh, a tribble!" Toshiko burst out. The others looked at her. She blushed. "You know… Star Trek? The trouble with tribbles? … you know, _the trouble with tribbles is they don't come in dribbles_… Oh never mind." She sighed with embarrassment.

"Actually, the tribbles were brown and white. This looks more like a pygmy puff." Ianto stated. All eyes fell on him. "You know, Harry Potter?" Jack shook his head as if to clear it.

"Literary references aside," Jack said, but was interrupted by Toshiko's:

"Star Trek wasn't lit…" He glared at her, making her blush again "Sorry." She whispered.

"_Cultural_ references aside, how did that thing get here?" By now the little creature had calmed down and begun to unfurl itself. Orion looked down at it, smiling. It looked like a cute little hedgehog with fur instead of spines. It blinked up at him with its blue eyes and wiggled its nose, sniffing his scent. He could hear a little rumbling sound from its stomach. His smile widened.

"Are you hungry?" Orion asked it. The rumbling sounded again. "I think that's a yes. I wonder what you eat?" he pushed past the adults, cradling the little animal close to him, and headed up to kitchen. The adults gawked and rushed after him.

"Orion, we can't feed that thing. We don't know what it eats. It might get sick from the wrong kind of food." Owen said.

"So we should just let it starve?" Orion asked angrily.

"No of course not, but…" they continued to argue all the way to the kitchen. The others followed behind.

"Gwen, Ianto, see if you can determine how that thing got here. Toshiko, is there anything in the computer logs that show any unusual events, any spikes in rift activity here at the Hub, any unusual radiation, temporal fluxes, any thing at all that might explain where this thing came from?" Jack was in full command mode again and the others were springing into action.

"I'm on it." She answered. Jack nodded and went into the kitchen to check on their progress – well officially, that is. In reality he just wanted to look at the adorable little creature. He always had had a soft spot for small furry animals. Not that he would ever admit it. When he entered the kitchen he could see that the animal itself had solved the problem of its feeding. It was currently sitting on the kitchen counter munching on a spider. A few spiders' legs had dropped to the counter and there was an awful crunching squishy sound whenever it took a bite. Owen was looking sick and left rapidly, to go down to his nice spider-free autopsy bay. At least he hoped it was spider free… he looked around in paranoia.

There was a sound from above and Xarion stepped into the Hub. He had been conversing with Rhiannon up in the tourist office. The young man had a slightly anxious look about him.

"Hello, have any of you seen Wilfred?" he asked as he came down.

"Wilfred? Who's Wilfred?" they asked. Jack left the kitchen to join them.

"It's a Norton Poxa and my pet. I brought it with me to for a lesson with Orion and now it's vanished." He sounded rather distraught.

"It wouldn't happen to be turquoise, would it?" Jack asked knowing full well that it probably was.

"Yes." the young man looked at him hopefully. Jack smiled.

"Orion," he yelled toward the kitchen. "Get in here and bring the pygmy puff-tribble." Orion came into the room with the little animal sitting on his arm, still munching on its spider.

"Wilfred!" Xarion rushed over to Orion and grabbed the animal and cuddled it close. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Owen rolled his eyes in contempt. He would never understand how anyone could get excited about a pet. Orion smiled and picked up the spider from his sleeve. Once Xarion had released the animal, Wilfred, and put it on his shoulder Orion gave it the spider and it began chewing on it again.

"You do know that Wilfred is a girl?" he commented. Xarion gave him a strange look.

"Yes, so?"

"Wilfred is a boy's name." He shrugged. Xarion chuckled in understanding.

"Here on Earth Wilfred is a boy's name. On Cararunal it means _the one who digs for hidden treasures_ and doesn't have any gender connotations to it. Wilfred here likes to dig and rummage in the garden and brings back all sorts of treasures. Once it brought back a gold ring. That's when I decided on the name."

"And Cararunal?"

"Mmm one of the colony worlds. It's located in the outer cluster of Cora here in the Milkyway Galaxy." They headed of to Orion's room, deeply engrossed in their conversation and didn't notice the rest of the occupants of the Hub looking after them, before going back to work them selves.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to Badly-knitted for the single review I got. <strong>

**So are you guys getting tired of this story or what? Is it not living up to your expectations? What do you like or dislike in this story so far? Give me some input, eh?**


	5. Ch5 Bowties, tea and holes in space

**Thank you so much for your reviews. I was beginning to feel as if no one cared about the story anymore. It _is_ a different story after all. I'm glad you're still sticking with it.**

**But oh my, you _are_ an impatient lot! ;-)**

**Warning: This chapter contains some gore and violence (author hides behind sofa and waves a white flag, yelling "don't kill me")**

Chapter 5 Bowties, tea and holes in space

Orion stood before the full length mirror and frowned. Why did they have to dress up as penguins just to go have tea with an old lady? He fumbled with the bowtie. 'Ridiculous thing. What possessed people to invent such a stupid, utterly useless contraption?' He growled out loud as the bowtie undid itself for the seventh time. Dejectedly he flopped down on the bed and took the cardboard box the stupid thing had come in and flung it across the room. At least that's what he wanted it to do. But given the box' shape it just flew up a little bit before clattering to the ground and one half slid under the bed. He growled in frustration again.

He supposed he should just give up and ask one of his parents to tie the bloody thing. But he could hear them going at it in the next room. All that moaning and groaning certainly didn't help to improve his mood. He didn't really know why it was bothering him, when it never really had before. 'Other than the noise level that is! Jeeze! And they wonder why I spend so much time sleeping in Myfanwy's nest!' he thought angrily. 'Typical! They tell _me_ to hurry up and get changed and the minute one of them takes his kit off the other one jumps him.'

He looked around the hotel room. It was fairly nondescript. It was medium priced, fair accommodations with a small bathroom, a comfortable bed, a wardrobe, a desk and a TV. It didn't have a view, he'd found when first arriving. But his Daddy had pointed out that they hadn't come all the way to London just to have him sitting in his hotel room admiring the view. Grudgingly he had to admit that there was something to it. He _would_ much rather be out exploring the city than sit here looking at it. '_If_ we can ever get out there!'

He jumped up and started pacing for the millionth time in the last hour. He was feeling very out of sorts; very edgy, angry, frustrated and anxious and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. At first he had thought that it had been the trip and the change of city. But the thought of going to London just excited him. He'd been looking forward to it since hearing he would be coming with them. So that wasn't it. He had then thought that maybe it was the influence of the large amount of people and his senses being overwhelmed, but that wasn't it either; though all of the above certainly helped to muddy up the matter.

He stopped in the middle of the room and tried a meditation exercise Xarion had taught him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Shutting out the world he focused on the world within him; on finding his calm spot. When he reached it he exhaled deeply. It seemed to help. Well a little any way. He was still feeling strangely out of sorts. He heard his parents finish next door and figured it wouldn't be long before they were dressed and ready to go. Sighing deeply he walked back to the mirror to attempt another bowtie wrestling match.

xxXxx

Jack and Ianto shared a concerned glance. Orion had been sulking during the entire drive from the hotel. When they had asked if he was all right, he had just sneered an angry "I'm fine!" at them. Every attempt at getting him to talk to them was rebutted and the young adolescent was now sitting with arms crossed in front of him and staring out the window. Ianto sent Jack an I-don't-know expression and Jack mouthed _hormones?_ back to him. Ianto nodded but didn't seem entirely convinced. Something more was going on with their boy, he could feel it.

Soon they pulled up to the large building and were taken through security. They were met by a member of staff who greeted them kindly and lead them through a series of corridors and up flights of stairs. Orion trailed behind, still in a slump. He looked around at the posh scenery and was beginning to get impressed. Then his eyes met those of a palace guard looking at him sternly as if he was a terrorist-teen out to vandalise the precious artworks and craftsmanship's. He growled and picked up his pace to catch up to the others.

It wasn't long before they found them selves being led into a room where they were told to wait. As their guide left momentarily Jack seized the opportunity to confront his troubled son. He grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, making Orion feel like an unruly kitten or something and in a low whisper he said:

"I don't know what's going on with you right now, but this isn't the time to be a brat. Snap out of it! And behave yourself. You are here by personal invitation from the Queen and I will not have you cause a scene. Is that understood?" Jack's tone was very serious. Orion seemed to become fascinated with the pattern of the Persian rug on the floor. Jack's right hand came up and grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to look up. "Is that understood?" he repeated. Orion looked at him in a confused mix of anger and sadness and nodded.

"Yes."

"Good." Jack let go of him and Ianto sent Orion another concerned look. He decided to have a talk with the boy as soon as the visit was over. Orion took a deep breath and let it out in a long exhale. Then he looked at his parents and gave a tiny tentative smile. Inside his emotions were churning so fast they were making him dizzy. Something was definitely going on and he had a sneaking suspicion it was something to do with his mate. Before he could investigate the matter their guide, what's-his-name, returned.

"The Queen will see you now." He said, and showed them into the next room through the beautiful double doors he had just opened. Inside were more posh furniture; a sofa, some chairs, a gigantic desk. Each piece was a work of art in its own right. The polished coffee table had been set with all the necessities for a proper English tea. Then he noticed the elderly lady standing next to the arrangement. She was dressed in a green skirt and silk blouse and wore a moderate, but exquisite selection of jewellery. She smiled when she saw him and he couldn't help but feel warmed by it and smiled back at her.

When the proper introductions had been made she bade them sit and their guide served them tea.

"Now, Orion," she said perfectly balancing her teacup in one hand. "I am so happy to finally meet you in person. Your fathers have been sending regular photos to me via email, but you are growing up so fast it is difficult to keep up to date." Orion pulled a face mentally, but smiled outwardly.

"I'm very happy to meet you too, Ma'am." He said politely. And he was. He really was. He just wished it wasn't happening right _now_. He had never felt so restless or edgy in his life and it seemed to get worse. They continued making pleasant small talk but his heart wasn't really in it. He hoped the dear old lady wouldn't pick up on it as he did his best to hide his real feelings. His parents seemed unconcerned as they too sipped their tea from tiny delicate china cups. His Daddy was in the middle of an unofficial briefing about the thwarted alien invasion – the Queen had wished to thank them personally for saving the Kingdom yet again – when Orion suddenly felt a tidal wave of dread flooding his system. His tiny tea cup tumbled from his hand, spilling the contents over the expensive rug and it crashed to pieces on impact. He began gasping for breath as his awareness turned inward toward his bond.

xxXxx

"Then we turned a corner and there in front of us were this _big_ mantis-like alien and it was _spewing acid_ out of its mouth right at the people trapped in the car. And then…" Jack was excitedly telling his avid listener, the Queen. Even though she had read the report, she was completely absorbed in his tale. Ianto was listening with a polite smile, while he kept an eye on his son. Therefore he was the first to notice when something suddenly happened. The boy became pale, inhaled sharply and dropped his cup. Then he seemed to start gasping for breath. Ianto leapt out of his chair and over to Orion. Kneeling in front of him, he tried to make eye contact. No luck. The child was withdrawn in a startling close imitation of when he had been suffering from his mate's rejection. 'Surely not..?'

"Jack?" he looked at his fiancée's worried face. Jack was right beside him now. He was staring intensely at Orion. Then the Queen's worried query made him address her and momentarily leave Ianto to deal with Orion. Ianto could hear him explain to the Queen that there was no need to call for medical assistance. He looked at Orion again. Suddenly the child growled in a feral, beastly way and then he leapt up, knocking Ianto over in the process, and flung himself at a spot in the middle of the room. Ferociously he began clawing at the thin air, over and over again. It was like looking at a feline beast gone amok and tearing up an opponent. Except Orion wasn't a feline and there wasn't any opponent.

Still tumbled over on the floor Ianto had a unique view as a glow appeared around the spot Orion was clawing. As he watched in amazement the glow became more intense and grew in size. He looked away briefly as there was a commotion at the door, when a large security detail barged through the doors, guns at the ready. But they stopped speechless and stared at the otherworldly sight before them, as Orion continued tearing a hole in the fabric of space itself. At least that's what Ianto thought it looked like he was doing.

Orion was howling furiously like a demented animal and soon had a large glowing hole in front of him. A gaseous substance was billowing out into the stately room, making Ianto cough when it reached him. As soon as the hole was large enough Orion went through it. Ianto watched helplessly as he saw his son look around and disappear out of sight.

xxXxx

Orion was incensed. His mate was in danger! He angrily tore through the barrier that separated them and went through the moment he could. He was met by a blast of hot, alien air, un-breathable to his human lunges. Without conscious thought he adapted his respiratory system to accommodate the foreign air, making it breathable. His only thought was for his mate. His every sense was screaming at him to find them, to rescue them, to see them safe. His bond told him his mate was not far. They were closer than they had ever been before. They were just a few meters away to the left. With an angry growl he tore off in that direction.

He appeared to be in some sort of hallway in a massive engine room. There were pipes and wires everywhere and it was incredibly hot. There were blinking lamps all over the place and screens displaying various readings on pressures, flows and what-not. Not that he cared about them at all. He just wanted his mate. He ran down the corridor, following a massive pipe. He could sense a large chamber up ahead. Passing through a billowing cloud of steam being ventilated out into the room he saw three people held captive in some sort of device. He could tell from where he was standing, that one of the people had died. His hyper-alert senses told him that the person next to it was fading away fast and the last, smaller person was also getting weaker.

His senses screamed in fury. That was his mate! Strapped into a device, as if they were nothing more than a battery! He could see their vital energy flowing away into the machine. Being stolen and ripped away by force. Then he saw the perpetrator. It was a furry, gray alien about a meter and a half tall. It reminded him of a Pygmy Marmoset he had seen at the zoo, except of course for the size. With a tremendous howl of feral fury he launched himself at it. The alien never stood a chance. It didn't even have the time to pull out the weapon attached to its side, when Orion literally tore its arm off.

It screamed in agony as Orion proceeded to tear the other limbs from its body. Blood was splattered everywhere and Orion was soon covered in it. It made his grip on the alien slippery and he altered his hands to give him pointed claws instead of fingernails. He used the claws to rip open the skin and tear flesh from its body. The stomach was torn open and the bowels spilled out. And still the alien screamed. Then Orion tore into its chest, ripping the ribs apart and with a final effort he yanked the heart out of the now dead body.

He stood panting holding the body in one hand and the still warm heart in the other. His feral rage had suddenly vanished with the death of the alien. He grimaced as the awful smell of carnage hit his nostrils. There was blood everywhere, the alien had soiled itself and the intestines gave off an unbelievable stink. With a sudden motion Orion let go of both the body and the heart and vomited violently on the already soiled floor.

Then a loud piercing alarm went off followed closely by another. The infernal klaxons were hurting his ears as he finished dry heaving. He grabbed the weapon the alien had carried and hurriedly checked on the two people still strapped to the machine. They were still alive. His relief almost overpowered him and he had to exert every ounce of will power he had to focus on the next task. They seemed to be held in some sort of containment field. If he could find a way to switch it off… his eyes flicked over the machine and the console near it. He ran toward it, but then company arrived.

xxXxx

Meanwhile back at Buckingham Palace Jack was finding it difficult to hold on to his lover. The young Welshman was struggling trying to follow their son through the portal without even a weapon. The security personnel had hurriedly evacuated the Queen, bringing her safely out of harms way. They had set up a perimeter line of defence all the way around the mysterious hole that the Queens personal guest had seen fit to create in her presence. To say they were pleased about it would be the lie of the century. Their guns were fixed not only on the hole but also on the two men struggling with each other in front of it. The man in charge began to develop a nervous tick, as the seconds passed.

"Ianto. Ianto! Stop it! Ianto! Will you stop?" Jack was screaming, trying desperately to prevent his love from tearing into the unknown. Ianto struggled with everything he had, completely out of it. Sensing that the application of logic would be futile, Jack settled for the more physical approach. With one swift move he tackled the younger man and they both came crashing down on to the carpet. Using his body weight Jack managed to pin Ianto down and held both his wrists firmly. Ianto still struggled. Then Jack was struck with a moment of inspiration. He quickly swooped down and kissed his man. He could hear surprised gasps in the background from the security staff, but he didn't care. He focused on the kiss. Their warm lips meeting, the taste of sweetened tea and of Ianto. Carefully he let his tongue flick along the lower lip of the struggling man and intensified the kiss. Under him Ianto began to relax, stopped struggling and sure enough, moments later he opened his mouth and let Jack in.

They finally broke away, gasping for air. Jack placed his head next to Ianto's and whispered in his ear:

"We will get him back. I promise." Ianto made a low whimpering sound only Jack was close enough to hear. Then he made a move to get up. That startled the already over-anxious security personnel.

"Don't move!" one of them yelled. Jack leered at Ianto and replied:

"Fine by me, officer." And he followed it with a suggestive roll of his hips, making Ianto groan at the sudden friction to a certain area of his body. The guard blanched, as the suggestive nature of the two men's positions on the floor became apparent to him. He could not allow that sort of frivolity to occur in the middle of the Queens parlours.

"Get up! Slowly."

"Aww, must I?" Jack pouted and repeated his hip roll. Ianto groaned again. 'Damn it, if he keeps that up I'll have another problem on my hands.' Ianto swore to him self.

"Jack." Ianto admonished. Their eyes met. He could see the playfulness as well as the concern in Jacks eyes and he was sure Jack could feel his slight problem… increasing unhelpfully. Jack smiled, swooped in for a quick kiss and moved away. Carefully they both got to their feet. Ianto took extra care to make sure his problem was kept out of sight, while Jack saw to the distraction. Carefully he held his hands in plain sight as he addressed the security squad:

"Now guys, is that any way to treat the Queens guests? We're Torchwood. We saved the Earth recently." He was met with an assault riffle pointing at his chest. "No?" He backed down. Ianto rolled his eyes. It seemed they were now prisoners.


	6. Ch6 Dungeons and exploding ships

**Thank you to PCJanto, Badly-knitted and Catt42 for your lovely reviews. I'm sorry I haven't PM'ed you. Real life, you know? Catt42, having Orion act out of character was the whole point. He was feral; acting on pure instinct and emotion, his single thought was to save his mate. Besides, it wasn't that off character… he did attack a weevil when he was a baby. The only reason the weevil walked (well, ran) away, was because he was so young. He also attacked his cousin, come to think of it…**

**Warning: This chapter contains more violence. **

**It also contains some phrases in Welsh. If it turns out to be complete gibberish, blame it on Google translate ('cause I don't speak Welsh). The English phrases can be found at the end of the chapter. They're not really important other than to illustrate a rant.**

Chapter 6 Dungeons and exploding ships

Orion dodged behind a nearby console as a bolt from an energy weapon was fired at him from the door. More of the Pygmy Marmoset-look-a-likes charged through and shot another blue beam at him. When the bolt struck a pipe behind him it blew a big hole and noxious green smoke billowed into the room. Orion coughed as he feverishly examined the weapon he had taken from the dead alien. The one he had butchered; he shivered at the thought and quickly focused on the present situation. The weapon fit into his hand quite well. It had a number of buttons on it, but he was loath to press them, when he didn't know what they did. Another energy bolt struck the console; causing a small explosion and acrid smoke from the burnt circuits wafted into the air. It was getting difficult to breathe with more and more of the green smoke flooding the chamber.

He could hear the aliens talking in the background. They were firing shots at random, keeping him trapped where he was hiding. What worried him was that they didn't seem to have a care for what they were hitting. They had already destroyed the pipe and the console, as if they didn't matter to them. He peeked over the console to look at what they were up to. He just caught a glimpse of one of them tapping away at another console, when the alien next to it fired its weapon at him. He ducked behind his console again. His heart was pounding away and he could feel the adrenalin pumping. He felt inside for his mate. It was still alive, but still weakening. He had to do something. And quick.

xxXxx

Ianto had never suspected there was a dungeon under Buckingham Palace. Nor that he would ever find himself as a resident in it. But here he was. Mind you it wasn't half bad as dungeons go. It was really a room in a converted basement down the hall from some of the security rooms. The room was rather sparse, as one would expect from a seldom used cell. There wasn't any window; they were too deep under ground for that. There were two plastic covered mattresses on the floor, a sink and a toilet stuck to the wall. It rather resembled a drunk-tank, of the variety the coppers use to house drunks over night.

He looked over at Jack. The man was lying on one of the mattresses with his arms beneath his head, one leg bent up with the other resting over it; foot tapping to a tune in Jack's head. He looked perfectly at ease. 'Of course, Jack would have a lot of experience being locked away in small cells' Ianto thought wryly and grimaced to him self.

"How can you just lie there, like nothing's happened?" he asked in frustration. Jack turned to look at him. Seeing his lover's distress prompted him into action. He sprung up like a Jack-in-a-box and grabbed Ianto by the wrist; pulling him down onto the mattress beside him. He flung his arm around Ianto's shoulder and hugged him in a half embrace.

"We'll get out of here soon, Love. They can't keep us here for long." He kissed his cheek.

"But… Orion…" his voice broke. "We…"

"We will find him." Jack told him in a firm voice. Ianto tore out of the hug and frowned at him.

"We don't even know what happened! Or where he went! Or why!" Jack's calmness infuriated him. How could the man be so calm and unemotional, when their son was missing doing god knows what heaven knows where. "How can we just sit here…" Jack cut him off:

"Ianto, calm down. We…" Ianto leapt up, face turning red with anger and he yelled at Jack:

"Calm down? CALM DOWN! Don't you bloody tell me to calm down! Our son is missing, possibly in danger and you want me to calm down? Mae ein mab, ein cnawd a gwaed, wedi diflannu i mewn i borth rhyfedd ei fod yn creu i fynd wneud pwy a ŵyr beth a ydych am i mi eistedd yma a bod yn dawel? Pa fath o tad ydych chi?" Ianto continued to rant and rave in Welsh, turning to ever more uncivil phrases. Thankfully Jack couldn't understand the words, but he caught the gist of it. In the end he settled for letting Ianto blow of some steam and some of his frustration; knowing he would be more open to reason afterwards.

Besides he couldn't help but admire the younger man. He was beautiful in his fury. His whole being was lit up from the inside with such a great passion, that he seemed to glow with it. His red face was screwed up in anger and his eyes shone with fire from within. Jack had the strongest urge to kiss him. But Ianto would most likely deck him if he tried. Ianto noticed the hungry look in Jack's eyes and it sparked a whole new tirade of insults.

xxXxx

Orion studied what little he could see of the chamber; wondering if there might be anything of use to him in his current predicament. There were loads of pipes of all sizes, but he would have to use excessive force to wrest them free from their holdings. Besides he didn't know how he could get close enough to his opponents to use them. He had counted just three aliens left. A quick search using his senses had revealed one left on what he assumed was the bridge control room and two down in the engine room with him. So if he could somehow eliminate the two on the opposite side of the chamber, then he would have time to free his mate and the other prisoner.

Again he looked down at the weapon. He did of course have a great knowledge of weaponry and combat gleaned from his Daddy's mind, but this weapon was unfamiliar as were the symbols printed on it. For all he knew the blue buttons would cause the weapon to spectacularly self destruct or something of that ilk. But there wasn't really any other option. He sighed inwardly, bracing himself for disaster and with a rapid fluent motion he leapt up and fired the weapon at the aliens.

He paled and his eyes widened as he saw the terrifying blue beam of energy head straight for the enemy and miss - hitting the console between them instead. They shrieked and dove to the floor, one of them had been hit on the head by a piece of debris. Orion could sense the life leave the bloodied body on the floor. The other turned and fired at him and he once again ducked behind his own console. He could hear more alarms going of and the existing ones seemed to become more insistent. He reached over the console and fired the weapon, blindly aiming it in the general direction of the alien. There was an explosion, making the whole room shake and causing him to loose his balance.

The noise was deafening and the air impossible to breathe. He coughed violently and spat out blackened saliva onto the floor. Still coughing he reached out his senses to search out the alien's location. His last shot had obliterated a large section of pipes, which had caused the explosion. The alien had been caught in the blast and was now scattered over a rather large portion of the chamber.

The fans kicked in and worked to vacate the smoke from the room. Shaking he got to his feet and hurried over to the two prisoners. The device they were strapped into had thankfully seized working. He looked at the bindings holding them captive. They were basically just metal bands around the wrists and ankles welded to the frame and reinforced by a powerful electromagnet. But since the power had been cut the bands could be easily removed with a little brute force. Smiling slightly in relief he altered his shape to allow for the strength required and set to work on releasing the prisoners.

First he helped the almost unconscious form of the adult down. It was very weak and he could feel it trembling in his arms. He gently laid it on the floor on a spot that was more or less unblemished by the carnage and destruction. As he was about to move away to get his mate, the adult weakly grabbed his arm and a telepathic connection was made. Orion blinked as he tried to make sense of the message that had been thrust upon his mind. It was a warning. The ship they were on was about to be destroyed. There was a loud piercing klaxon – a kind of whoop whoop whoop sound – that signalled the immanent explosion of the ships secondary propulsion system. The primary propulsion system, the Jump drive, had already been disabled.

Orion shook his head to clear his mind. It was confusing sometimes when adults such as Xarion and Rea did a memory dump on him; literally transferring a copy of a block of memory and information into his mind for him to process and store. He had often complained to himself that he wasn't a computer and being to-thirds Human made the memory dumps more difficult to handle. But he could understand its usefulness. He now knew exactly where the life boats were. He nodded his understanding and the adult let go of him.

He rushed over to his still unconscious mate, intent on freeing them. It was a Micurii'an he registered briefly, while ripping off the bands holding it. He suspected that it was too exhausted to maintain a form other than its natural one and he took a second to look at it. It was neutral gendered, like all Micurii'ans and it was younger than him; just on the brink of adolescence. Its brown hair was shoulder length and tied into a ponytail at the nape of the neck. It was also the most beautiful person Orion could ever remember seeing. He would have loved to just stand there gazing at his precious mate, but another minor explosion forced his mind back on the dangerous situation they were in.

Carefully he grabbed his mate's smaller body and carried them away; heading toward the adult. He would need to consider how he would get the both of them back to the portal, when neither of them was fit to walk. He was almost there, when a loud scream sounded by the door behind him and a shot was fired. Reacting instinctively he used his own body to shield his mate and was hit on the right shoulder full on. Orion screamed in agony as the force of the impact sent them flying toward the floor in front of them. In his mind he could feel his portal to the palace closing; cutting off his nearest escape route.

As they crashed the alien screamed again angrily. Orion was sure it would fire again. He felt a moment of self torment. He had completely forgotten about the last of the aliens. He should have expected it to come down to investigate and now his mistake would cost him the life of his mate, the adult and himself. The adult moved weakly and he became aware of a glow surrounding its hands. The glow became intense and shone a blinding blue colour and crackled like lightning. Suddenly it leapt from the adults hands and flew in a small ball toward the alien. It shrieked and crumbled to the floor; dead. Orion stared at it and then at the adult. His mind unable to comprehend what had just happened. The adult smiled gently at them, before it too collapsed. A soft sigh signalling its own death.

Orion shook, as he realised that the adult had saved them. It had spent its last reserves on that ball of energy. Then he noticed a shaking that wasn't his own. It was the ship. The whole thing shook and trembled, like a frightened animal. A large pipe fell from overhead and clattered down, startling Orion. He quickly scooped his mate up into his arms again and carried them bridal style out of the chamber. His shoulder throbbed with pain and he could feel the blood flowing freely down his back, but he ignored it. He had to get his mate to safety. He had to get of the ship and away before it blew up. He ran down debris filled corridors and jumped over the scattered remains of what had once been a proud vessel. He ran as he had never run before. His body was screaming from pain and exertion; adrenalin pumping and keeping him going.

Finally they were by the nearest life boat. The adult had given him the knowledge he needed to operate the controls for not only the door, but also the life boat itself. There was now a high pitched whine coming from the engines and he instinctively knew they were running out of time. He operated the door controls while still carrying his mate and rushed inside as soon as possible. Carefully he placed his mate on the bunk and pushed the few controls needed to start the separation sequence and put some distance to the ship.

He stood there staring out the small porthole for indeterminable seconds, clutching onto the panel to keep himself upright; his body aching, his heart pounding, his lungs gasping for air. Then the ship blew. The tremendous fireball ballooned out and then collapsed in on it self as the air was consumed by the fire and the vacuum of space. The shockwave hit them a moment later and Orion held on as they were knocked along, like a gigantic fist had used them as volleyball. Then the shockwave was passed them and they drifted once more. Orion gathered what was left of his strength and punched the button that would enable the life boat's homing system. The life boat would home in on the nearest inhabitable planet and land there. He then went over to the bunk, where his mate was lying and flopped down on the narrow mattress beside it. He really should find the first aid kit and tend to his injured shoulder, but he just wanted to rest for a moment. Tiredly he spooned his mate and wrapped his right arm around them and fell asleep.

*Mae ein mab, ein cnawd a gwaed, wedi diflannu i mewn i borth rhyfedd ei fod yn creu i fynd wneud pwy a ŵyr beth a ydych am i mi eistedd yma a bod yn dawel? pa fath o tad ydych chi?

= Our son, our flesh and blood, has dissappeared into a strange portal that he created to go do who knows what and you want me to sit here and be calm? what kind of father are you?


	7. Ch7 Interrogations

**Warning: this chapter USED TO contains a sex scene – a m/m blowjob. It has been removed from the site due to censorship.**

Chapter 7 Interrogations

At Buckingham Palace the sudden closure and disappearance of the mysterious portal in the Queen's chambers had caused quite a disturbance. The guards and secret services had been about ready to wet them selves, when the thing had winked out of existence in a flash of light. The UNIT "experts" that had been reluctantly called in, screamed in outrage; feeling they were somehow deliberately being cheated out of their big opportunity before they even had a chance to arrive. But the portal remained gone. All that was left were a strange gaseous air that had filled the room and forced everyone in it to wear breathing apparatus's. And then of course there were the two prisoners down in the basement.

xxXxx

Ianto had finally calmed down and collapsed next to Jack on the plastic covered mattress on the floor. He was too tired from all the emotional upheaval of the day to do much else but lean on Jack and just rest. His head was resting on Jack's shoulder and Jack was holding him tight; planting gentle kisses on his hair and on his forehead.

"I love you, Cariad." Ianto suddenly said, breaking the comfortable silence between them. He twisted his head so he could see the smile that crept onto Jack's face, chasing the worry lines away. Jack's eyes took on a warmth he had only ever seen directed at himself and at Orion. Gone was the coldness of the captain, to be replaced by the gentle love of the man. '_My_ man.' Ianto smiled softly. 'When we get out of this, I am going to make him my husband. We've waited long enough.' He tilted his head up as far as he could, smiling again as Jack met him halfway in a loving kiss.

**Lemon was removed due to censorship on the site. You can find the unedited version on my homepage www . freec . dk / 2910leiv**

He peaked through his eyelids to see Jack kneeling and with his head slumped forward. He was breathing hard and his eyes were shut.

"Thank you." He smiled at his lover. Jack opened his eyes and smiled back at him.

"Now that's what I call stress relief!" Jack joked and chuckled. Ianto joined him and soon they were laughing outright; not so much because of the joke, but because of the absurdity of the situation.

xxXxx

Down the hall a young soldier no more than 19 turned away from the monitors and - blushing an impressive crimson colour - nodded to his superior officer. The man was standing by the door, looking at his wristwatch and displaying many signs of impatience. The man stormed off down the hallway and pounded on the door to the room with the prisoners. The young soldier watched on the monitors as the two prisoners scrambled to wipe themselves clean and wash away the evidence of their little rendezvous.

A guard swiped his card and the door unlocked. Without waiting the officer flung the door open and glared at the men inside. 'Bloody poufs' he thought. In his mind that sort of thing should be illegal, but he had to abide by the statutes of the law. He knew the Queen herself had requested their presence here, 'silly old bird', so he had to tolerate them being here. But he did not like having to stand around twiddling his thumbs while they got it on in his dungeons. Well, the Queens dungeons, anyway.

"If you are quite done," he said menacingly with a disgusted snarl on his face, 'your presence is requested elsewhere." He had to spit the words out or he would have choked on them. He had been given strict orders to remain polite and people were watching. The tiny cameras in the corners showed an unrestricted view of both the prisoners and of him self standing in the door. The prisoners both looked at him, and then one of them, the one he knew was called Captain Harkness, sent him a flirtatious smile and said to his lover:

"Oh, I don't know… are we done, Ianto?" The man's voice was dripping with sassiness. The other one, Mr. Jones he knew, turned red and gulped. The Captain grabbed him in his arms and kissed him, putting on quite a show for the officer, who by now was getting red faced as well; but from anger rather than embarrassment. 'The nerve of the man!' he thought and spluttered angrily. The Captain broke of the kiss, a bit out of breath. The young man looked rather dazed. The Captain gave him a quick peck on the tip of his nose and turned toward the officer.

"_Now_ we are done." He smirked and demonstrably pulled up the zipper on his trousers. He grabbed Ianto's hand and pulled him along past the officer and out of the room.

xxXxx

In her office the Queen looked at her computer screen and started fanning her self. 'Oh my!' Her advisor stood next to her with a rather dark blush upon his cheeks.

xxXxx

Several hours later found Jack and Ianto sitting in an interrogation room; both feeling tired, frustrated and angry. Empty paper cups and plastic water bottles littered the table at which they were sitting. The hard wooden seat of the chair was causing their bums to go to sleep and Ianto could feel his back aching.

"We've already told you what happened!" Jack was shouting angrily at the two men and the woman in the room with them. They had introduced them selves as Smith, Smythe and Jones. Not that those were their real names. They had secret agency written all over them. Coming from their own secret agency they should know, Ianto thought distractedly and yawned greatly. They had been up at the crack of dawn having sex several times before going with Orion to Buckingham Palace. Then there had been Orion's moody behaviour and the excitement of meeting the Queen. Then Orion had gone all weird, made that hole, portal, gateway, what ever it was, and disappeared through it. Then they had been taken prisoner, chucked in a dungeon, had more sex and then been interrogated for hours. 'All in all it has been a fairly rotten day! Ok, maybe not the sex part of it…' he thought.

He was exhausted, desperately needed a shower and a change of clothes and a good solid meal. But most of all, he needed to find their son. They had explained over and over again that they didn't know what had happened or how he had done it or why. They had tried to convince those dunces that they were as much in the dark as _they_ were.

He had been racking his brain for an explanation. Something told him that it had to do with Orion's mate. That look in his eyes before he went crazy… it reminded him of the time the mate had rejected Orion. But it was different this time... somehow. He frowned. Orion had suddenly leapt into action; his behaviour all wild and furious… like a desperate animal. 'What could have caused such a reaction?' He saw Jack pound his fist into the table, screaming at the top of his lungs. 'He almost looks the same… like he too would tear the world apart too…' he gasped loudly. 'That's it! That has to be it. Orion's mate, something happened to them - something bad. And Orion went to save them.'

"Jack! I know what happened!" he said loudly, but Jack and the interrogators were still shouting at each other. "JACK!" he tried again. Then he let out a loud whistle, like Rhiannon had taught him when they were kids. They shut up and covered their ears. "Jack, I know what happened." Jack looked at him sharply. "It's the mate. It's got to be! Something happened to them and Orion went to save them." He could practically see the cog wheels turning in Jack's head.

"Mate? What mate?" Smith or Smythe or was it Jones? He couldn't remember who was which.

"What are you talking about, man?" the other Smith/Smythe/Jones said.

Jack was nodding. "Yes, I think your right." Ianto smiled at him. "But we still don't know where he went or why the hole closed." Ianto's brief moment of hope was destroyed once again. Jack was right. Of course he was. They were not any step closer to getting Orion back. He sighed with a slump. He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. The heavy, worried feeling in his stomach had returned with a vengeance. He looked up as he felt Jack's hand gently squeezing his shoulder.

The agents were getting agitated at being ignored. One of them plucked up the nerve to speak.

"What did you mean by that? What are you not telling us?" the imbecile said. His shirt was looking rather rumpled with its rolled up sleeves and half hidden coffee stain. The man's suit jacket was hung over the back of his chair behind him. He was by now leaning over the table, both hands curled into loose fists and glaring at the two men. Jack looked at him furiously, for daring to try to intimidate his fiancée. Ianto would have rolled his eyes at Jack's protectiveness, if it hadn't been so cute. Besides, he appreciated having Jack cover his six, when he was this tired. He yawned again.

"We've already told you!" Jack was off again. Yelling down the house. Ianto suspected it was Jack's way of venting his worry. He felt bad for yelling at Jack earlier. He had really torn into Jack and here he was sparing him from the same. He couldn't help but smile lovingly at his fiancée, earning a strange look from the female agent. Though the noise level was high, he could feel his eyelids getting heavier and he soon dozed off with a soft smile on his face.

xxXxx

The twin moons hurled around the fourth planet as it spun serenely on its own way around the Solique System. The indistinct world was home to a small science base of the Niook, who had recently made the journey from the third planet. This was their first step into colonising their system and exploring the vastness of space. Needless to say, they were very proud of their achievements. It had taken them close to a hundred years to develop the technologies needed to ferry them to their neighbouring planet and to establish a base there. Every single person on the base was a worldwide hero and a household name back on the third planet. Even the Multi-Purpose Base Manager Trainee, though she was nothing more than a glorified janitor.

Little did they know that they would no longer be alone on this planet. A tiny vessel of alien origin had appeared out of nowhere some 300.000 km away. It made a beeline for the fourth planet, where it entered the thin atmosphere and descended to the ground in a controlled landing. Had the Niook scientists looked outside, they might have been able to see the streak of fire shooting across the midnight sky. But the scientists were all either buried in their work or asleep. In their minds the time for stargazing was over and it was time to focus on changing the planet they were on, so it could sustain their hungry population. With the right terraforming strategies, this world could be used as a food production planet for their people.

The alien vessel landed unhindered on the opposite side of the planet; its two passengers blissfully unaware.

xxXxx

In the interrogation room the sound of a phone ringing interrupted the shouting and woke Ianto up. The female agent answered it and after a short conversation hung up again. Then she signalled the other two agents and they left the room without a word. Mystified Jack checked on his sleepy lover.

About ten minutes later an officer entered the room, dressed in an immaculate uniform. Behind him came a couple of soldiers armed to the teeth and guns ready. They had a sharp, watchful look about them. Before either Torchwood member could respond a little old lady stepped daintily into the room. They both jumped to their feet when they saw her. She was still dressed in the green skirt and silk blouse they had last seen her in. 'Was it really only that morning?' It had felt like so much longer. She looked at them sternly and ordered them sharply to sit down. Jack opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off with a stern look.

"Now, would you mind explaining to me," she said, every fibre of her was the ruler of the nation and the commander of armies. 'Granted her power isn't really real anymore, but she sure is intimidating like this.' Jack thought. There were very few people in the world that he admired and feared. The Doctor had been the first to make that sort of an impression on him; making him want to improve himself and make them proud of him. The Queen had been the second and Ianto the third. He had first met the Queen back during the war when she had served in the Auxiliary Territorial Services and had kept in sporadic contact with her. He had always had a bit of a crush on her, but had ignored it. He admired her strong character and the way she had spearheaded the nation through the years. He smiled to himself. Ianto had teased him mercilessly when he had found out about his feelings toward the now elderly lady. 'Oh well, we all have our foibles, do we not?'

"…why your son suddenly behaved like that?" the Queen asked. "Why did he make that hole?" She looked at them expectantly and with a stern face.

"Your Majesty," Jack started, but faltered when she focused her gaze on him. He felt like he had somehow let her down. Ianto rescued him.

"Your Majesty, we are not certain…" she looked at him with a frown, making him feel like a schoolboy in front of the Headmaster after causing trouble in class. "We believe he did it to save his mate. Orion has a mate, you see." he hurriedly continued, seeing her confusion. "They've never met and we don't know anything about them. But they tried to reject him and we almost lost him and we had to partake in a healing circle and…" he gasped a frantic breath and was about to continue babbling, when Jack put his hand on his arm. He closed his mouth with an audible click of his teeth.

"Apparently it is rather common for his mother's people to have predestined mates. Orion has one to. They share a bond, a telepathic connection, which allows them some knowledge of one another. We think that something has happened to Orion's mate. Something bad enough for him to want to go to them by any means possible." Jack said calmly. The Queen seemed to consider what he had said.

"And the hole in my chambers?" she asked. Her demeanour gave no indication of her thoughts or feelings on the matter. Jack looked away for a moment, before meeting her eyes again.

"We don't know, Ma'am. His mother's people have many abilities we Humans can only dream of. They've never mentioned this, though. But I wouldn't put it past them. They have the ability to teleport from one place to the other. Calls it Jumping. Maybe this is normal too. We just don't know, Ma'am." He said.

She looked at him for a long moment. Then she bowed her head to him briefly, before stating to the room and the agents listening on the surveillance system further down the hall:

"I believe them. There was no sinister thought behind this. They are to be released immediately." Then she looked at Jack and Ianto. "Captain, Mr. Jones, you have my apologies. As you are no doubt aware, one is better safe than sorry. Now, I shall have a room done up for you and have a meal sent there for you." She held up her hand to ward off Jack's protests. She waved her hand in Ianto's direction. "Your young man is ready to drop where he is standing. I will not take no for an answer." Jack bowed in gracefully.

An hour later found them fed, bathed and soundly asleep in a guest room in Buckingham Palace.

**Talk about from rags to riches. From prison to palace.**

**Sorry guys, no Orion in this chap. He'll be back in the next one. Along with his mate.**


	8. Ch8 Meeting one's mate

**This chapter is dedicated to Badly-knitted, who never fails to review each chapter. Thank you so much. Your support is invaluable. And thank you as well to every one reading this story. I hope you'll stick with it to the end.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8 Meeting ones mate<p>

Orion was running down endless corridors. Burst pipes choking him with their toxic steam. Ever so often a bolt of energy would shoot past him, just barely missing him. His lungs hurt and his heart was pounding a furious rhythm. He ran down another corridor and suddenly burst through a cloud of steam and almost tumbled over into a deep chasm. Down and down it went. There was no where for him to run and the monster chasing him was coming closer. He could hear it growling. In his panic he contemplated climbing over the edge. Risking a fall into the chasm might be better than facing the monster. But it was too late. The monster was here. It burst through the cloud of steam and stood before him, with a menacing smile on its face. It was _his own_ face. _He_ was the monster. He saw his doppelganger covered in blood and gore and he felt sick. His double moved in on him, coming slowly closer. Then… it touched him and they merged into one. Orion looked down at himself and found that he was now covered in the same blood and gore. He screamed.

He was wakened by someone shaking him. Being so totally freaked out by his dream he flailed his arms violently about him, in an uncoordinated attempt to ward off any attackers. He felt his arm impact on something, or rather someone, and flung himself as far away as he could. The result was that he tumbled to the floor in a rather undignified heap. He lay there panting as his mind slowly caught up to his now wakened state. He wasn't in a steam filled corridor and he wasn't being chased by monsters. He became aware of his shoulder throbbing painfully and he couldn't hold back the anguished moan forcing its way out of his throat.

Then there was a soft chirruping sound from the bed above him. He scrambled away in a moment of panic, thinking the monster had followed him into the real world. Franticly he turned and searched for the maker of the noise. That's when he saw them. The most beautiful person he had ever seen. Time seemed to stand still as their eyes met. 'Mate.' His mind provided blissfully. 'My mate.' In the back of his mind memory flooded back of how he had rescued his mate, which in part explained his dream about monsters. Not that he cared at all about that at the moment. He felt like he was under a blissful spell.

His mate was looking back at him with a concerned look on its face. Its beautiful purple eyes were staring at him in both worry and affection. It chirruped at him again in a questioning way. To Orion's dazed and frazzled mind it sounded like singing. He wouldn't mind listening to it all day, he thought as he gazed into those two amethyst depths. Then the beautiful creature reached out a small, delicate hand and touched his cheek. The bond between them came alive, pulsing with the rush of emotion between them. Time sped up to normal again, though Orion still felt rather dazed.

His mate carefully got off the bed, moving slowly so as not to startle Orion. He followed it with his eyes as it stepped over to a cupboard, which was revealed to contain a small sink. Rummaging through adjacent cupboards, the mate produced a plastic container and piece of cloth. It filled the container with water and returned to Orion's side. It looked at him questioningly as it dipped the cloth in the water. Orion couldn't help but lift his hand and touch the face in front of him. His caress was gentle and the mate smiled at him. Then it put the soaked cloth on his injured shoulder and he hissed in pain. It flicked a hesitant glance at him, but continued cleaning his wound.

Orion became aware that he was covered in dried up blood, gore and sweat. His dream flashed before him again. He was the monster. He had killed people. He had literally torn a person apart with his bare hands. He tore away from his mate, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, and sobbed in anguish. His tears flowed freely down his grime covered cheeks. He froze when he felt his mate's arms around him. He tried to free himself from the embrace, fearing he would harm them too, but they wouldn't let go. Relenting he allowed himself to be held.

He could feel his mate's sorrow as well, through their bond. It too was grieving and he realised it was for the two adults that had been strapped into the device beside it. He was saddened by the fact that he hadn't been able to save them too and he shared the feeling with his mate through the bond. It sent him a feeling of understanding and acceptance and it made him cry even harder. He mourned for the lives he had taken, for the lives he couldn't save and for the loss of his own innocence.

He didn't know how long they wept together, but when he finally finished his mate was sleeping in his arms. Very carefully he picked them up and put it back on the bunk. It whimpered as he let go and he caressed its hair before pulling away completely. His shoulder was bleeding again and he awkwardly removed the remnants of his shirt. The pain of moving his shoulder so much nearly had him collapsing on the floor. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. The pain slowly faded to a slightly less throbbing pain. He would need to get it cleaned completely and dressed in a bandage.

He looked around. There should be a first aid kit on board. The lifeboat resembled a caravan, he noticed. It had bunk beds along one wall, a wall full of cupboards on the opposite wall. In the front was the flight controls and to the rear the exit with the porthole and a large cupboard, he presumed contained the toilet. Opening the door he was pleased to find that not only was he correct, but it also contained a shower. The toilet itself could be folded back to allow room to stand under the shower. He smiled. Now all he needed was a towel and a change of clothes.

A search of the cupboards proved a treasure trove of useful items and he was now equipped with some soap, a towel, a hairbrush, a first aid kit and some coveralls. He quickly shed the last of his clothes and got into the shower. The water felt blissful on his battered body and he allowed himself the luxury of just enjoying it washing away the physical reminders of the awfulness of recent events. When at last he was clean again, he stepped out and towelled himself off as best he could. His shoulder was hurting like hell and the rest of his muscles were beginning to ache as well.

He pulled the coveralls up over his waist, but left the top half down. He would need to have his wound dressed first. He opened the first aid kit and found what he needed. But there was no way for him to reach his wound properly. Reluctantly he approached the bunk and looked down at his mate. He hated to wake it, but there was nothing else for it. He sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook his mate's shoulder. It fluttered its eyelids and with a deep breath slowly woke up.

When it saw him sitting there it blinked as if startled and then a slow smile spread on its face. He couldn't help but smile back.

"I need your help." He told it. He held up a cloth and a bottle of disinfectant, he had found in the first aid kit. Its amethyst coloured eyes widened in understanding and it sat up and took the items out of his hands. He flinched violently when the disinfectant soaked cloth came in contact with his wound. He grabbed the side of the bunk and gritted his teeth to keep from screaming.

"So," he ground out. "What's your name?" The child looked at him.

"Warwyn Saiyaela." It answered. Orion looked back at it.

"Beautiful name." It looked down shyly. "Mine's Orion. Orion Harkness-Jones. Though it probably should be Caralneska. That was my mother's name." The Saluvians and Micurii'ans named their children after the mothers or carriers, since several males could be co-contributors of the male parental DNA. Warwyn abruptly stopped cleaning the wound.

"What?" Orion could see the shock in its eyes and he could feel it through the bond as well. It looked flustered. Then it continued dabbing his shoulder with the cloth.

"My uncle was married to a Caralneska." It mumbled. Orion could tell that something was wrong. Both the Micurii'an and Saluvian species tended to have large families, particularly these days with the procreation laws, so it shouldn't be unexpected for the branches of their family trees to cross now and again. They wouldn't be predestined mates, if they were too closely related. After all, nature didn't care too much for inbreeding.

"Was?" It nodded and sighed heavily.

"My father's sibling, my uncle… is crazy. He killed his wife and some of her children." Orion felt his blood run cold. "He tried to kill the others as well. They sent him to prison, but he escaped. Then he came after us." By now Orion's strong grip on the bunk was deforming its metal. "He overpowered us, my parents and me, and sold us to the Fylfaouk pirates in exchange for a ship and some sort of technology." By now Warwyn's hands were resting idly in its lap and it was staring down at them. "The pirates wanted us to fuel their ship for the long Jump to the other end of the galaxy. We…" its voice broke and it swiped at the tears rolling down its cheeks again.

Orion's mind was reeling. Lartorc was Warwyn's uncle. He had sold his own family for a ship and some tech. He could feel the rage boiling inside him, as he thought of all the horrors that man was guilty of. He was vaguely aware of being bandaged up and of his mate crying. But it wasn't until Warwyn collapsed on the floor, sobbing, that he broke out of it. He rushed to embrace it. The emotional turmoil had become too much. Once again he moved his mate to the bunk, where he crawled in and held Warwyn close as it cried.

xxXxx

It was sometime during the early hours of the morning that they were woken by something moving around outside. It was something big by the sound of it. Orion climbed out the bunk and tiptoed to the front, where the controls were. Warwyn stayed in the bunk, looking awfully scared. It was still very weak from its stint in the energy robbing device. Orion took a look at the controls and finally found the one that enabled the external cameras and brought the night vision images up on the front view screen. Behind him Warwyn gasped as they saw a bunch of large animals walking around their tiny lifeboat.

Luckily, they didn't seem interested in them though. Aside from the occasional sniff or two the animals continued on their way. They reminded Orion of the American buffalos or the African wildebeests, except they were the size of elephants. They had a docile air about them as they walked along, sometimes stopping to graze on the blue-green grass and soft pink bushes.

"There's so many of them." Warwyn said in wonder, as it joined Orion up front. He put his arm around it and together they watched the herd migrate passed them. After a while Orion noticed his mate beginning to shiver with cold. He kissed it on the head and guided it to the bunk for some more sleep. He silently hoped that there weren't any predators around to hunt those large animals.

xxXxx

He was awakened some hours later by the sounds of his mate rummaging around the various cupboards. Sleepily he rolled onto his back and stretched his arms over his head, yawning. But the instant pain in his shoulder brought him sharply awake. Hissing he cringed and rolled back onto his side and settled for watching Warwyn. It looked over its shoulder at him and smiled, before turning back to the cupboard it was currently ransacking.

Orion smiled at the image his mate presented. Warwyn was dressed in a coverall identical to the one he was wearing; only it was several sizes too big. The sleeves and legs had been rolled up, but the rest was still too large causing the bottom to sag between the legs and the excess fabric to overflow above the waist. He thought it looked adorable like that; still so very childish, yet he knew it wouldn't be long before it would move into adolescence.

His musings were interrupted as Warwyn let out a loud "Ah!" Apparently they had found what they were looking for. They triumphantly pulled out a small food packet, from amongst a multitude of others. Orion was pleased to know they wouldn't need to starve if they couldn't find other food sources. Who knew how long it would be before they were rescued. There was no way he would be able to make a new portal. Not only had it cost him a great deal of energy but what was worse it felt really wrong. As if it was a violation of the laws of nature. It would be something to discuss with Rea and Xarion when they got back home.

He felt a sharp pang in his heart as he thought of home and of his family. 'Daddy and Tad must be going ape with worry.' He thought as he watched Warwyn mix the contents of the food packet with water and stare at it. Orion thought about their visit to the Queen and was convinced she would never let Torchwood inside the palace again. 'Hell, she'll probably refuse to speak to Daddy and the rest of us ever again.' He smiled at the thought, and then he noticed that Warwyn was still just staring at the container of food. He was just about to ask, when Warwyn broke off its staring contest with a frustrated groan.

"I can't do it!" it half yelled and looked at him. "I'm not strong enough." It's voice was quivering and it's entire posture was one of dejection. Orion wasn't entirely sure it was referring to whatever it had tried to do or if it was speaking about the whole situation in general. It looked ready to break down again. The amethyst eyes were brimming with unshed tears and it's lover lip was quivering slightly. He gingerly got up, mindful of his aching shoulder, and put his good arm around Warwyn's shoulders. It leaned closer, drawing comfort from his touch.

"Where you trying to heat it?" he asked carefully. Warwyn nodded and a single tear flowed down it's cheek. Orion gently wiped it away with his thumb and looked at the stuff in the container. It was some sort of light blue mash with green, orange and red chunks in it. He steadied him self as Xarion had taught him and sent his awareness deep into the bowl. The world faded around him as he became aware of the much smaller world of the food molecules. He started a small chain reaction once he could see them and influence them. Like tiny billiard balls the atoms were set into motion and struck each other and the sides of the container and changed direction and zoomed along to strike another molecule and another part of the container. The movement created friction which created heat. The whole process only took a few minutes and soon all the food in the container was steaming hot.

He pulled his awareness back to normal and saw his mate sending him a sad smile and a whispered "Thank you." Orion smiled back and kissed it on the top of it's head.

"Let's eat this while its still hot." They poured the contents out onto to plastic plates and sat down on the floor to eat. Somewhere in those cupboards were some folding chairs and there was a tabletop that could be pulled out of the cupboard wall, but for now the floor would suffice.

"I can teach you how to absorb energy from the planet, if you don't know how to..?" Orion said carefully between mouthfuls. The food was rather good, both spicy and sweet at the same time. Warwyn looked up mid-chew.

"I'd like that. I only know how to do that from artificial sources, like power packs and such." Orion nodded his understanding. He had once tried that with an ordinary battery, at Xarion's insistence. It had tasted sour and the energy output had been poor. But Xarion had stated that they could be used in an emergency for a minor energy boost. Orion had grumpily mumbled that one would do better with a bar of rich chocolate than a battery.

"This is only the fifth time I'm on a planet." Warwyn continued. "Born and raised on ships." It said matter of factly, with an air of quotation. Orion thought it was cute and couldn't help but smile.

"This is only my third time on a spaceship." Orion countered. "Born and raised on a planet." He winked and smiled his trademark Harkness smile. Warwyn snickered shyly, before gingerly saying:

"This isn't really a ship. It's a lifeboat." Orion laughed hearily.

"I know. I was just trying to impress you." He laughed again. Warwyn hesitated for a heartbeat or two and then joined in. The peels of laughter were music to Orion's ears.

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><p><strong>Hmm, I am suddenly feeling the need to sing "Getting to know you" from "The King and I" <strong>


	9. Ch9 Tumbling lifeboats and vanishing nat

**A great big thank you to Badly-Knitted and PCJanto for reviewing. And thank you to every one reading this.**

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><p>Chapter 9 Tumbling lifeboats and vanishing nations<p>

They spent the next couple of days getting to know one another and grieving for those they had lost. Orion suffered from nightmares each night that had him waking up screaming. Warwyn always held him as he struggled to come to terms with the dreams and the reality behind them. It was always the same; The monster chasing him through endless corridors, catching up to him and merging with him. In some dreams he would find Warwyn dead, in the worst of them he was the one to cause the death of his mate. After such terrible dreams Orion would cling to his mate, as if Warwyn would disappear if he let go. Warwyn never complained about it. It just cooed and purred in a soothing manner until Orion dozed off again.

More often than not Warwyn would suddenly remember its parents and its past life and the overwhelming grief and sense of loss would cause it to break down in to a sobbing mess of its own. So it could understand Orion's nightly breakdowns. Needless to say their first days together were filled with shared tears. Years later they would look back at that time and think it was a bittersweet time.

They had explored the lifeboat's many cupboards and made use of the contents. A routine of sorts was established; they ate their meals from the stored food packets, slept through the night and talked through the day. They had agreed not to wander too far from lifeboat, since they didn't know what kind of dangers there might lurk outside. But they had branched out a little into the immediate surrounding area. 'It must be how camping feels like' Orion had thought, as they sat outside on folding chairs enjoying an evening meal and watching the fiery sunset.

"What's that?" Warwyn asked pointing to something on the far distant horizon. Orion followed his mate's gaze, while putting his finished plate on the ground. Still chewing the last mouthful he frowned. Though it was flattering that Warwyn thought him the great expert on all things planetary, the truth was he had been raised pretty much under ground at the Hub and in a city. This was a very different climate, warmer and drier, and it was flat plains with the occasional cluster of shrubs and bushes. He had yet to spot a tree anywhere; or people for that matter. The distress signal had been activated and he had tried several times to contact Rea and Xarion telepathically, but he wasn't sure if he had reached them. So for now at least, they were on their own.

"Looks like a storm cloud. Probably a bad weather front coming in. We better bring everything inside, when we retire for the night." He indicated the chairs and all the little trifles of stuff that had been brought outside during their short stay. Warwyn looked at him with such trust, that it made his heart flutter. His mate had never experienced bad weather, or what it could do to things on the ground. Orion shuttered, suddenly glad there were no trees around. At least they wouldn't get hit by any flying Christmas trees!

He looked at the oncoming storm. It was still far away, but it moved quickly. He tried reaching out with his awareness, to maybe get a sense of the magnitude of the storm. He could feel the gentle slumber of the world they were on, and the herd of huge animals they had seen the first night. But he couldn't really feel the storm; he had never been particularly good at weather sensing. Rea said there were those on Hallow IV who specialised in it, but it was not for him. They would just have to wait and see.

xxXxx

An hour later a large herd of animals came galloping past a bit to the left of them. The animals looked a bit like blue ponies, with sleek bodies built for speed. They were running just ahead of the storm, like dolphins swimming in the bow wave of a ship. They didn't seem panicked, rather elated. As if running in front of a massive storm was great fun.

Orion paled as he saw what looked like a dark grey wall approaching. The storm was massive. He shut the porthole and sealed it tight and rushed over to Warwyn in the front. Everything had been stowed away in the cupboards. As he sat down in his seat and strapped himself in the safety harness, his instincts wanted him so badly to hold Warwyn in his arms, keeping it safe from harm. Their eyes met and the bond sang with emotion. Warwyn reached out its hand and Orion grabbed it.

Then the storm hit.

xxXxx

Ianto turned around lazily. The bed was soft and warm, the sheets luxurious. It was also empty, he slowly realised, as his searching hand found no trace of his bed partner. Blearily he blinked, forcing his eyelids to unglue themselves. The room came slowly into focus. It was indeed devoid of other Human life than his. They were staying at the palace as the Queens guests, much to some of the security officers' discomfiture. The glares they got from some of them… Ianto half smiled at the thought. Jack had tried to charm one of them, only to be unequivocally and unceremoniously turned down. It had bent his ego a little out of shape for half a day, until Ianto decided enough was enough and jumped him, the moment they entered their room. Making sexual overtures to the man was an effective means to bring the man out of a sulk.

Ianto stretched and was about to get up when Jack came through the door with a heavily laden tray. The scent of coffee and bacon floated before him as he approached the bed.

"Morning, Love. Look what the Queen sent us." He set the tray down on the bed and sat across from him. Ianto smiled.

"Morning, Cariad." He accepted the fine porcelain cup full of steaming hot coffee and sighed as the flavour hit his palate. It was made by a real barista, he knew. He had met the woman, a Mrs. Evelyn D'allasandro, a petite British woman, who had married an Argentinean man and, Jack had joked, was Ianto's soul mate. They had spent hours talking about coffee; from the types of beans and cultivation methods to the finer points of brewing the perfect cup for each person. By the end of the evening he had received a standing offer of an apprenticeship "in case the secret agent stuff didn't work out".

They took their time eating the fine breakfast. It wasn't often they got the chance to indulge in a sit down meal, least of all at breakfast. Their conversation invariably steered toward their investigation into Orion's disappearance as well as mutual comforting and morale boosting. They both missed their son and were both worried about him. Though Ianto was the most outspoken in his concern and worry about Orion, Jack shared the sentiments. Jack would often remind Ianto that Orion was a big boy and very capable of handling whatever would arise. But even so he didn't always feel confident that their boy would be able to – what if he was hurt? Then Ianto would remind him, that Orion was strong, gifted and resourceful.

But what really calmed them both down was that Rea and Xarion had not felt anything amiss. They were both tied up in some sort of ceremonial event on Hallow IV. Ianto had equated it to a once-in-decade graduation ceremony for some of the highest trained new scholars. It didn't really matter to him other than the fact, that Rea and Xarion were unavailable when they needed them the most.

He was jerked out of his thoughts as there was a knock on the door. Jack and Ianto looked at each other. This was the first time that someone had interrupted them during a meal. Ianto checked that he was suitably covered by the duvet. It wouldn't do for him to flash _his_ crown jewels to the Queens courtiers. Jack went to answer the door. Outside was a prim female clerk in a smart light grey suit jacket and skirt.

"Good morning, Gentlemen. I trust you've slept well." She said pleasantly, but with an air of indifference. She was just making pleasantries, but didn't care about the answers. "Your presence is requested in half an hour. A guard will escort you." With that said, she gave a short perfunctory nod and swiftly walked away. Jack snorted humourlessly as Ianto shook his head.

"Wonder what that was about." Jack said as he shut the door.

xxXxx

The children both screamed as their little vessel was tossed topsy-turvy in the gale force winds. Orion felt as if the lifeboat was as light and unsubstantial as an empty soda can. They were rolling over flat plains, sometimes being tossed into the air and flipped around so much it was impossible to tell what was up or down anymore.

"Please stop! Make it stop. Please!" he heard Warwyn pleading. His heart breaking at the sound, knowing there was nothing he could do.

"Please!" Warwyn was sobbing and retching again. They had both forcefully lost the food in their stomachs and it was now splattered all over the insides of the lifeboat. The stench of it was enough to make him gag. Warwyn screamed loudly as they were flung front over end high up into the air and then were tossed into a side roll while falling down. A strong down draft caught them and they were slammed into the ground, right on top of a large boulder. The metal of the hull creaked and groaned as it was deformed out of shape. The wind slammed into them again, pushing them off the boulder and along the ground. The lifeboat was now rather bent around the middle, forming a sort of v-shape. The cupboards were being squashed in the middle. Those were the cupboards where the food packets were stored, he thought, as they were flung into the air again. But this time the wind caught them on the inside of the v-shape, pushing them sideways into the ground and along it. Orion looked out the window and noticed the wide furrow behind them. The wind was ploughing them into the ground in front of them. If they could just burrow downward a little, the ground could anchor them against the winds.

He spared a glance at Warwyn, who was still sobbing strapped into the harness. It was still pleading the powers that be for the winds to stop. Orion steeled himself, sent a brief feeling of comfort along their bond along with his intent and then focussed on the task ahead. He stretched out his awareness to feel the lifeboat around them. When he was complete attuned to it, he used his telekinetic abilities to try to change their angle. It only needed to be changed a little bit and held like that, and then the wind would provide the forward thrust that would drive them partially into the ground.

It was difficult. He was fighting against the strong winds that constantly threatened to pick them up again. He was also struggling because he had never really tried to influence something so large before. He was soon gasping for breath and sweating like a racehorse. At one point he lost control and the wind picked them back up. They were tossed around in a fierce set of twists and twirls. It almost felt as if the storm was retaliating, taking its vengeance out on the little lifeboat.

Orion gasped a few more times and tried again. This time he managed to keep them on the ground, but he didn't have the strength to change their angle as well. It took every thing he had just to prevent them being thrown about again. A few minutes passed and he was feeling a growing desperation as he felt his strength ebb with each passing moment.

Then another presence made itself felt. It altered their angle, making the tip of the v-shape point downward by a couple of more degrees. Orion could have cheered as he felt the lifeboat slowly but surely burrow into the solid ground. Within a few minutes they finally came to a halt. The small craft was taking a pounding by the wind and it shook and bucked. It wouldn't take much before they were wrested free again, he thought.

Stretching out his awareness he searched the ground under and around them. The top layer was just soil with the usual mix of decaying vegetation and microorganisms. Further down was a layer of clay and below that a rocky layer. It would have to do, he thought. He concentrated on gathering the clay and rocks, moving them up through the underground. Soon it broke through the surface and moved up along the wind pounded side of the lifeboat. The earth movement caused the lifeboat to sink in further, as the ground settled. Orion moved soil from the surrounding area as well and soon the little vessel was covered and resembled an oddly shaped hill. The wind blew over it, trying to sweep it away, but the lifeboat stayed put.

Orion collapsed in his seat with a great sigh. They were safe. He was exhausted from the ordeal and had only just caught his breath, when it was almost knocked out of him again. Warwyn had taken the opportunity to unclasp the harness and flung itself into Orion's arms. He abandoned all thoughts of scolding it as he heard it sobbing. They were safe, so what did it matter that it had prematurely unstrapped itself from the harness? He hugged it as close as he could, burying his nose in its hair. He could feel it trembling, as he placed a kiss on top of its head.

"Thank you." He whispered, knowing full well who had helped him wedge them into the ground. Warwyn just sobbed, getting the front of his coveralls wet. The bond let him know how terrified his mate had been and he tightened his hold. His mate was safe now. They both were.

"And I thought flying Christmas trees were bad…" he said softly, trying to lighten Warwyn's mood a little. Warwyn made a mewling sound as a response and Orion's instinct told him to continue to comfort his mate. The lifeboat was a wreck, the water was leaking both inside and out, shortening out the electrics in small brief flares of flame and smoke. Some of the cupboards had opened, throwing the contents all over the place. The beds had been deformed, the lights were flickering, and a hydraulic pump was opening and closing something under the floorboards in the engine. But his mate was safe and that was all that mattered to Orion right now.

xxXxx

The guard brought them through a maze of corridors, flights of stairs, elevators and underground tunnels until they finally arrived at a large situation room. The place was busy as a bee hive. People dressed in uniforms and suits milling about, talking on phones, checking computers and tablets. Ianto spotted at least five different agencies and as many types of armed forces, including UNIT. He also spotted the Crown Prince, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and a bunch of other important people. 'What in the blazes is going on?'

They hovered in the outskirts of the room, staying out of the way and waiting for someone to notice their presence. They didn't have to wait long. A middle aged balding man came over to greet them.

"Ah, there you are. Torchwood, right?" he said. Jack put on his best smile, making the man weak at the knees and blush.

"Captain Jack Harkness. This is Ianto Jones. What's going on?" The balding man frowned.

"What, you haven't been told? Oh, typical!" he said affectedly. He put his arm on Jack's, making Ianto want to slap him. "They are all so busy being important they forget to maintain the most basic of courtesies." He sighed theatrically. "Oh well, I'm Myron, by the way. Myron Hoffsteader. I work for the Foreign Ministry." Ianto restrained the urge to roll his eyes, as Mr. Hoffsteader pulled _his_ fiancée along toward a meeting room. Jack sent an apologetic look over his shoulder, as Ianto followed behind them.

"It seems that about a week ago a message was received at Arecibo, the radio telescope in Puerto Rico. It took a couple of hours for it to be confirmed by the telescopes in Australia and New Zealand. But they all received the same message. It has been proven to be alien in origin." The man paused as they waited for a group of VIPs to pass. Jack and Ianto shared a look. Even though they dealt with alien contact on a regular basis the official First Contact had yet to happen. Jack, vaguely remembering lessons in old Earth history, was well aware that this wasn't it.

"What was the message?" Ianto asked. Mr. Hoffsteader glanced benignly at him, but frowned when Ianto put his arm possessively around Jack's waist.

"Oh some sort of alien gobbledygook." He waved his hand dismissively. "That isn't what is twisting all these bigwigs' knickers. Oh no, it's much more interesting." Both Jack' and Ianto's eyebrows rose. What could be more important than a strange alien communication – an undeniable proof of alien existence?

"It seems that when the aliens didn't get a reply to their message they got a tad bit upset." He paused dramatically. This time Ianto did roll his eyes. The man was infuriating. Jack squeezed him around the shoulders were his arm was firmly in place.

"How upset?" Jack was getting impatient as well. The balding man simpered.

"They have made the entire population of Bangladesh disappear." He said with a flirty smile for Jack.

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><p><strong>For the record: I have nothing against the people of Bangladesh. I just needed a densely populated country and Bangladesh is in the top five worldwide.<strong>


	10. Ch10 Taking stock

**Thank you to PCJanto and Badly-knitted for the delightful reviews and thanks to everyone for reading.**

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><p>Chapter 10 Taking stock<p>

Orion woke with a small start, as the first signs of the approaching dawn crept over the sky. He immediately regretted the slight movement as it produced a sharp pain in his neck. Sitting up in a pilot seat all night had done him no favours. He was also a bit banged up from being shaken around like he had the night before. He was restricted in his movements by the heavy weight of his mate sleeping in his arms. Its head was resting on his shoulder and each breath tickled the side of his neck. He gingerly moved a little to free his injured shoulder from the worst of the contact with the seat. The wound had reopened at some point during their tumble and he could feel the stickiness of his own blood coating his back.

"Warwyn?" he said softly and moved his free hand up to stroke its hair. "Warwyn, wake up." He placed a gentle kiss on the top of its head. It began to stir a little, snuggling closer to him, nuzzling his neck and making a little content purring sound. Orion chuckled to him self as he tried again.

"Warwyn, come on, sweetheart. You need to wake up now." There was a gasp and Warwyn pulled away suddenly, to stare at him. Their eyes were locked for a brief moment, then realisation struck and Warwyn's eyes filled with pain and fear. Orion noticed and hurriedly said:

"Shhh, it's going to be all right. But I need you to stay strong now." Warwyn looked close to breaking point. "There are things that needs doing and I can't do them all by my self. I need your help, so you have to be strong, okay?" Warwyn's lips quivered and in a tiny, frightened voice it said:

"I want to cry." Orion blinked a few times to stay in control of him self. He felt for his mate, he too wanted to sit down and just cry. It was all getting to be too much. He wanted his Daddy and Tad and the rest of his family. But they weren't there. They were on their own and there were things to do.

"You _can_, as soon as we've done all that needs doing. Then you can cry all you want to." Warwyn sniffled.

"You promise?" it sounded much younger than it really was in that instant and Orion resolved to do everything he could to ensure his mate would never again be this scared, vulnerable and unhappy.

"I promise." He said with firm conviction. "Now do you think you can stand?" He knew his mate hadn't sustained any serious injuries, just a lot of bruises. But they had spent the night in a rather uncomfortable chair and he for one couldn't feel his legs at all. Warwyn nodded and carefully climbed off his lap. It immediately felt cold and empty, but the feeling was soon exchanged with one of pain, as the tiny pinpricks of returning circulation set in.

"What do we need to do?" Warwyn looked at him uncertainly. Orion continued rubbing his legs and wiggling his feet up and down. Warwyn saw what he was doing, and crouched down and massaged Orion's left leg as he himself did the same on his right.

"We need to do some damage assessment. How badly damaged is the lifeboat? Can anything be salvaged? Do we still have communications? We also need to find food, water and shelter. And we need to do so before dark, so that gives us about… 15 hours, more or less." Warwyn squared its shoulders and set its jaw with determination. Orion was pleased that the prospect of having a series of practical tasks were enough for it to push all emotions aside. Maybe they stood a chance now.

"I'll look at the communications and the machinery." Warwyn said with a newfound confidence. "I'm good with engines and computers. My mum's a Master Engineer. She's been teaching me…" it suddenly stopped, as the memory resurfaced. Its mum was gone for ever. An intense pain flooded the bond, as Warwyn scrunched its eyes shut and tried to keep from crying. Orion knew that if he did what he wanted to, namely hugged Warwyn, it would break down again. Instead he put a hand on its shoulder and squeezed it in sympathy.

"You do that. I'll check on our provisions." It nodded. Orion got up and moved toward the bend in the vessel. He looked over his shoulder and saw Warwyn take a deep breath and get to work on the console.

xxXxx

Jack and Ianto were stunned into silence. Mr. Hoffsteader smiled at them and flicked a hand at Jacks arm.

"I know! How can an entire nation just disappear?"

"All of them?" Jack asked sharply. He was through playing nice with the simpering idiot. Ianto concealed his smug look, before anyone noticed. Myron Hoffsteader, being oblivious, continued with his flirtatious manner.

"Yes, pretty much. I mean, there are a few scattered groups of people at the outskirts of the country still there." He looked speculative for a moment. "It's almost as if someone drew a giant circle over the country and everyone inside it vanished." Before any comment could be made, they were all called to the meeting. The people all scurried to find seats or to stand along the walls of the room if they were unlucky enough to be left without a chair. Ianto and Jack managed to procure a couple of chairs along the back of the room. The room hushed as the Prime Minister stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you are now aware the country of Bangladesh is unexpectedly void of its population. An estimated 161 million people has vanished without a trace at 02.14 hundred hours GMT. There was no warning prior to the event, nor was there any visible sign of it occurring. One moment the people were there and the next they were gone." A low murmur rose in the room, as people commented this news between them. "Satellite images show that the plains, trains and cars kept moving until they either crashed or slowed to a halt. There are a large number of fires burning out of control. Animals are roaming the streets and farm animals are left untended. The power stations are still running, but it is only a matter of time before they break down too with no people to supervise them."

"Oh My God!" someone yelled "Does Bangladesh have nuclear power?" The Prime Minister looked uncertain and turned to the Foreign Minister and his advisors, who looked equally lost. The Prime Minister gave them a look, before continuing his briefing.

"We will ascertain that shortly. If need be a team will be assembled to go there to oversee their continued function." One member of staff frowned deeply; already speculating how they would get past security and gain access to the plants computer systems. Those things were heavily safeguarded against outsiders. He took off to an adjoining room to find some people to call. The fact that they had yet to find out _whether_ there were untended nuclear power plants in Bangladesh was swiftly forgotten. The Prime Minister saw him leave and squeezed the bridge of his nose for a moment. He had been hauled out of bed at an ungodly hour to deal with a crisis no one in the history of the world had ever had to deal with before.

"There will undoubtedly be a plethora of things we need to deal with. We also have to be on guard to ensure that no other nation decides to claim the land. It could spell disaster for the political stability of the region. Not to mention create havoc in case the people of Bangladesh are returned." He held up a hand at the multitude of questions being thrown at him.

"No, we do not yet know what happened to them. We don't know where they are or if they will return. But until we know more we have to operate on the premise that they _will_ return." A burly UNIT officer rose from his seat; his medals glinting in the overhead lights, almost outshining the silver in his hair.

"UNIT, UN and NATO will enforce the sovereignty of the nation of Bangladesh until such time said nations people are capable of doing so themselves." The man had spent a large part of the morning confirming just that from the involved institutions.

"You have the full support of the Commonwealth as well; Mr. Grier. Bangladesh is a member." The Minister of Defence said to him. The officer, Mr. Grier, nodded sharply and sat back down.

"Splendid," the Prime Minister said, feeling for the first time that they were getting somewhere. "Now, several different taskforces will be set up, to deal with this crisis. We need solutions, people. One taskforce will be set to tackle the many difficult problems that will arise in the country itself. Such as the power plants, fires and what have you. Another taskforce will deal with the international response, both the political and commercial. Bangladesh may be a developing country, people, but they _are_ the world's fourth largest producer of rice and exporter of clothes. We may be facing a shortage situation soon of various items and that will influence prices and trade." He looked at everyone in the room, reminding Ianto of his old school headmaster.

"We will also need a taskforce to deal with the investigation. We need to know what happened and how and why; and most importantly, will it happen again?" Some of the people in the room looked quite startled by that, as if they hadn't considered it.

"I understand we have Britain's answer to Mulder and Scully here with us." His eyes made a searching sweep of the room until they landed on Jack and Ianto. Many eyes focused on them and several snickered, while others mumbled "Bloody Torchwood" under their breaths.

"Maybe they can call E.T. and tell them to return the missing people?" a snooty secretary commented to her seatmate, who giggled and sent both the Torchwood operatives an apprehensive glance. Ianto repressed the urge to roll his eyes, while Jack put on the trademark Harkness smile at full blast. 'Sparkle, Shirley.' He thought.

xxXxx

"So we have no water, the food packets were all but destroyed. We have enough for two or three days at the most." Orion was saying. "The good news is that we have an assortment of equipment, including blankets, sleeping bags, coveralls, socks. No boots though. We have some basic camping gear and utensils. There's also some survival gear, including an axe, some multipurpose knives and some rope. We also have a small tent, but I don't think it will be of much use, if there is another storm."

They were sitting outside their battered lifeboat, taking stock of their progress so far. Orion was actually rather pleased with how much of the stuff onboard that had survived. Most of it could be used, though some of it needed a cleaning first. The water that had leaked into the vessel had mixed with hydraulic fluids and lubricants and what not, making it unrecyclable. The water storage tank was broken, as was the pump, so they needed to find another water source somewhere.

"What about the first aid kit?" Warwyn asked and looked pointedly at Orion, whose back was partly soaked in blood again. His shoulder was throbbing again and he knew the slight wooziness wasn't just for lack of food or come down after the adrenaline rush. He needed to replenish his blood supply, but without access to a hospital that would be difficult.

"That survived as well." He pointed in the general direction of where he had put it. They had decided to remove everything usable from the vessel, since the lifeboat was anything but pleasant inside. It was covered in contaminated water and random splatters of vomit. The floor was tilted, the sides crooked. The electrics, including the vessels computers and communications unit, had shortened out completely, leaving the inside in a murky, silent semi-darkness. Warwyn went over to dig out the kit and returned with it moments later. Without grumbling Orion stripped to his waist and let Warwyn remove the soiled dressing.

As the wound was cleaned and a fresh dressing applied, he took the time to speculate if they were alone on the planet. They had not seen any signs of habitation or of people. He couldn't have known about the little science base on the other side of the planet. The people there had chosen the site for its arid, mountainous terrain that better suited their needs. He also worried that there might be predators around. There certainly was no shortage of herd animals, judging by the two different herds they had seen so far. Surely something ate those? He hoped if there were predators out there, that they weren't attracted to the smell of his blood. 'We may need to get some weapons. For defence as well as hunting.' He thought. They did have a handheld blaster and a laser cutter. But the blaster would turn an animal into minced meat in a single blast and the cutter needed to be held close to what it was cutting, like a knife. He sighed deeply.

"What's wrong?" Warwyn asked from behind him. It was still busily wrapping up his shoulder in a long green bandage.

"I was just thinking that we might need weapons to hunt with and to defend our selves against predators with. But I'm not sure where we can get the materials…"

"Why do we need that?" Warwyn interrupted. "Why can't we just change into a bigger predator ourselves? We could hunt that way too." Orion jerked around to look at his mate, who fumbled with the bandage as it was almost knocked out of its hands. "Hey! … What?"

"You're brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" he swept in and planted a big, sloppy kiss on Warwyn's lips, making it freeze in surprise. "We can just change shape!" Warwyn shook its head with a smile and forced Orion back down, so it could finish the bandaging. Orion was elated, even a bit giddy with relief. They were one step closer to making it. Now they just needed water and shelter. The thought sobered him up immediately.

He calmed himself even further. He needed to be "_in the zone_" so to speak if he was to succeed at what he was about to do. He vaguely felt Warwyn move away and start preparing a few of their remaining food packets. When he was ready he moved his awareness outward, getting a feel of the land around them. They were surrounded by open plains for as far as his senses could reach. The herd of massive animals they had seen on their first night was grazing in the far distance to the east. To the south there was a massive lake, but it felt off somehow. He guessed it was not a freshwater lake, but rather something hazardous to their health'. His senses usually worked that way. The chemicals in his Tad's broom cupboard gave off a bad vibe, prompting him to stay clear of them even as an exploring toddler.

He turned his attention to the north and west. At just the outskirts of his reach he found something promising. It seemed to be a rip in the ground and it had a positive vibe to it. His conscious mind interpreted the impression to mean a ravine. He was even pretty sure there was water there. Good clean drinking water, no less. But they would have to go there to be certain. He pulled his awareness back to find that Warwyn had the food ready. He told it about his discovery as they ate.

xxXxx

Orion Jumped alone to the ravine. It was magnificent. It must be at least 300 meters deep and about as wide. The river that had carved it still flowed at the bottom, though it had narrowed considerably. It flowed rapidly; in some places throwing up white foam on the rocky boulders that littered the bottom. Various dark holes along the side walls indicated the presence of caves. He spotted one on the sunny side of the ravine that had a rocky ledge in front of it. It was well above the water line and the only way to get to it was by Jumping or flying. He silently prayed it wasn't inhabited.

Once more he sent out his awareness. This time searching the caves for threats. Some of the caves were inhabited by various animals; none of them seemed dangerous though. He focussed on the cave with the ledge. It turned out to have a shallow cave in the front of the cliff face with a moderate size chamber behind it, accessed from off to the side. They would be able to be outside in the light, but sheltered from the sun and rain. Judging from the amount of vegetation growing in the ravine it seemed the strong winds on the plains didn't come into the ravine. The moderate cave behind the outer one was completely sealed off, with just that one entrance, making it easily defendable. It was perfect. He hurriedly Jumped back to share the good news.

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><p><strong>Kudos to everyone who caught the reference to "Medicine Man". <strong>

**Jack's thought: "Sparkle, Shirley" is from the words Shirley Temple's mother allegedly would tell her daughter every time she was about to perform. **

**And finally, if you don't get the Mulder and Scully reference, you are not old enough to read M-rated stories nor do you know your classics in alien/conspiracy pop fiction.**


	11. Ch11 Dragons really are a fire hazard

**Sorry, no Jack and Ianto in this chapter. I couldn't get it to work properly and I thought you would like to get the update, so…**

**Thanks to everyone reading and special thanks to Torchwood Cardiff, Badly-knitted and PCJanto for reviewing. Love reading those reviews.**

**Enjoy :-)**

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><p>Chapter 11 Dragons really are a fire hazard, you know<p>

"_You're a ha ha ha ha dragon! Ha ha ha. A great big bloody dragon! Ha ha ha."_ Warwyn clutched its stomach, doubling over with laughter. The sound of it ringing along their bond. Orion glared at it. Sometimes telepathy could be a real nuisance.

"_So? You look like Bigbird."_ Orion pouted. He didn't really think Warwyn looked like the puppet, on the contrary he thought his mate's yellow bird form was beautiful. Not that he would ever admit to it, being ridiculed as he was. He knew dragons were considered little more than vermin on Hallow IV and a fire hazard, since their small flames were the most frequent cause of fires on the planet. But he really liked them. One of his first memories was a vague image of a little brown dragon; he supposed it had been kept as a pet by his older siblings, though he couldn't really be sure.

"_Who?"_ Warwyn laughed. Orion glowered, getting angry now. He sent a mental image of the puppet and turned away from Warwyn, who by now had shifted back into its original form and was collapsed into a hysterical laughing fit.

Orion stomped off. His large dragon form moving elegantly even as he flung his tail from side to side in anger. He looked over his shoulder to see his mate still laughing at his expense. He growled angrily and much to his surprise belched out a small puff of flame. It hit a small shrub in front of him and immediately started to consume the dry plant. He stared stupidly at the burning bush, not quite believing he had caused its destruction.

"Wow, do that again!" Warwyn said from behind him. He could tell it was very impressed and he noted smugly, was no longer laughing at him. It came over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Go on. Try that bush over there." It pointed. Orion shrugged inwardly, took a deep breath and blew it out at the bush. Aside from a few leaves being blown off the thing, nothing happened. Orion huffed a little disappointed. So much for the impressive fire display he was hoping for. For some reason his dragon form's instinct made him want to show off in front of his mate. He shrugged the thought away, as Warwyn encouraged him to try again.

He once again took a deep breath and blew it at the innocent shrub. With the same result. He hissed at the stupid bush. 'Why can't I do it? I've just did it moment ago?' he thought angrily, flashing a glance at the merrily burning shrub… and plants and flowers and grass! Hissing at his own foolishness he turned and ran over and began stomping on the rapidly spreading wildfire. Warwyn shouted in surprise and ran to help him. It grabbed a blanket and began hitting the bush with it, but the blanket was not doing much difference and it soon caught fire as well.

Orion did the first thing that came into his dragon mind. He pushed his mate away from the danger and pissed on the burning blanket and bush. When his bladder had emptied – he had really needed to go for a long time, he just hadn't found the time to – he turned his back on it and dug his huge claws into the ground and scraped one paw full of dirt onto the fire after the other; much like a cat burying its waste. Warwyn, who had been knocked to ground, lay staring at him open-mouthed as the fire was put out. Then Warwyn started to giggle, which grew to a full out laugh. Orion stopped mid-scrape and looked over at his mate on the ground. 'Is it laughing at me again?' he couldn't believe its audacity. But then he noticed what he was doing and remembered 'I peed on the fire! I bloody peed! On the fire!' A deep rumbled started in his chest and soon he too was on the ground laughing.

xxXxx

After their little fire mishap they agreed that Orion's dragon form was not something to be laughed at and fires were something they needed to be careful about. Orion even admitted that he liked the yellow bird shape Warwyn had produced; though he secretly worried whether it would be strong enough to fly the distance from the crash site to the ravine. Not that he was one to talk. With his injured shoulder he would be lucky if he could even get off the ground, let alone carry the heavy load.

During their many talks Warwyn had disclosed its inability to Jump. It was a subject of great embarrassment to it and something its parents had often despaired of it ever mastering. In a society where Jumping from place to place was an integral part of life, the lack of such ability was crippling to say the least. Considered worse even than being blind, deaf or mute; those disabilities could be compensated with Other-senses, like Orion's Earth Awareness. But not being able to Jump meant you couldn't visit certain places, couldn't play popular games and that you were helpless in an emergency, like a house fire. Trouble was that Jumping was something one had to do alone. It was impossible to bring someone with you. Orion knew that when Xarion had brought his pet, the Norton Poxa Wilfred, to Earth with him it had been brought there on a ship.

This posed something of a problem to them. They had lots of stuff they needed to transfer to the cave in the ravine and Warwyn had to get there as well. The solution had been for Orion to transfer as much as he could first. They would pack the items inside the cloth of the useless tent, then fold it into a bag of sorts and Orion would grasp it in his claws and fly into the air and Jump to the ravine from there. He had made several Jumps already. Now all that remained were a few of the larger heavier items and Warwyn. But Orion was getting tired. His shoulder was killing him and his head was getting increasingly woozy. His landing after Jumping back to the crash site was anything but gentle.

Warwyn had a stack of metal plating tied in a bundle with some of the string from the tent. The metal had been dismantled from various parts of the lifeboat. They weren't really all that heavy on their own, but bundled up together Orion felt they weighted a ton, as he lifted them experimentally. Warwyn was about to add a bundle of metal rods and what-not's to the bunch, when Orion vetoed it. He was rapidly running out of energy and strength. Warwyn looked like it wanted to protest, but must have noticed his tired look, because it said nothing and backed down.

With a mighty huff Orion pushed off the ground, hovered in the air as he fumbled to grasp the bundle and then he flapped his huge wings and lifted into the sky. When he had sufficient altitude he Jumped to the ravine. He had a moment of disorientation before spotting the cave. He flew over to it and flapped his wings to break speed as he reached the small ledge. Then he felt it. A great dizziness overwhelmed him and his vision turned light.

The sound of the metal plates and the heavy dragon's body crashing down upon solid rock could be heard for kilometres around. The last thing Orion was aware of before falling unconscious was his mate's frantic telepathic calls.


	12. Ch12 Unpopular demands and first times

**Thank you to all who read this and special thanks to Badly-knitted for the review and the assistance.**

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><p>Chapter 12 Unpopular demands and first times<p>

Jack beamed his smile at the congregated V.I.P.s and government officials. This was his field of expertise. He could see some of the people start to relax and smile at him. 51st. century pheromones were a true gift when stuck in the 21st century, he thought as he looked at the men and women in the room. His eyes met those of the prime minister's. The man had a hostile air about him, and Jack remembered previous dealings with him. There was no love lost between them, but they still managed to work together when they had to.

"This is hardly the X-files, sir." Jack smiled at him, relishing the fact that he could still make the man squirm. There was a time, some 30 or so years ago, when Aloysius Cooper had squirmed for him for an entirely different reason. Back then he had been a young aspiring politician, not yet restrained by marriage and a successful political career. They had met at a hotel during an important summit, had gotten drunk in the hotel bar and had slept together in Jack's room. The next morning the young man had been so full of shame and regret that Jack had promised to keep their night together a secret. And he had kept his promise. To this day he had never breathed a word about it to anyone and the Prime Minister knew it. That did not however mean that it would stay that way, as they both were well aware.

They stared at each other. The politician and the rogue operative. Oh, how the PM wished the Queen would let them have control of Torchwood. Then he could let the handsome Captain know his place and then he wouldn't have to worry anymore. That night at the hotel was his one lapse of morality and the one thing that would guarantee his political downfall should it ever be made public. He did not appreciate the constant threat hanging over him, particularly now when he had so much to loose.

"You will none the less offer your assistance in the investigation." It was not a request. He felt quite satisfied knowing the Captain couldn't refuse.

"Of course." Jack answered, megawatt smile never faltering. They still stared at each other. An uneasy murmur started to spread among the listeners. A ringtone startled them and the tense moment was broken. Somewhere in the throng of people the phone was answered and the Prime Minister dismissed them. As they rose from their seats, Jack turned to Ianto and said:

"Call the Hub. Get Tosh to check for anything unusual. Both with the Rift as well as any ships in orbit. 161 million people don't just vanish into thin air. They were removed by some piece of technology and taken somewhere. My bet is there would be a ship up there somewhere with the perpetrator on board." Ianto was nodding and digging his pockets for his mobile.

Myron Hoffsteader made his way over to them again. A ridiculous smile, that was supposedly meant to be flirtatious, was plastered to his features. When he reached them he hooked his arm around the Captain's and started to drag him toward the exit.

"Now Captain, Mr. Jones, if you'll just follow me. I'll take you to the situation room set aside for the investigative team." Ianto rolled his eyes. Then his fiancée did something he would never have expected. He yanked his arm free and put it around Ianto's waist.

"Go on, lead the way." He said to the gaping man and turned and kissed Ianto's cheek for good measure. Ianto sent him an indulgent look. His lover really was a big kid sometimes, but in this particular instance he rather liked it. Hoffsteader opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, before proceeding out the door with a miffed huff. Ianto and Jack shared a look, laughter playing in both their eyes. They were watched by many as they left. Some were sympathetic and aww'ing, some lusting, others resentful or plotting.

xxXxx

"Settle down, people." The tall thin man was standing at the head of the large mahogany meeting table. "My name is George Lancaster, I'm a Major with UNIT and the appointed leader of this investigation." He looked out over the men and women gathered around the table and along both walls. They were still in the underground bunker complex underneath London. "In this room with me are gathered some of the finest intelligence officers the field of Alien Research, Investigation and Control can produce. We have representatives from Torchwood, UNIT, Area 51, SETI and many more. I am confident that we can figure this thing out." He saw nods of approval down the ranks.

"Now, our first order of business is to make sure we all have the same basic information." He nodded to a middle-aged woman in a suit standing off to the side. She immediately came over and took his place.

"Hello, I am Mrs. Adler. There was no warning prior to the disappearance of the Bangladesh nationals. But we did receive a message at Arecibo from an extraterrestrial source a day prior to the event." A hushed murmur broke out among the gathered people. Apparently this was news to many of them. "All attempts of translation have been unsuccessful so far. We do not know for certain if it is related to the disappearances, but as they happened so closely we will need to take them into account."

Jack held up his hand. The woman glanced nervously at Major Lancaster, who nodded.

"Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood Cardiff. Torchwood has some state of the art translation software. Would it be possible to get a copy of the message?" A young flustered geeky looking girl across the other side of the room flung her arm up, though didn't bother waiting for acknowledgement before stating:

"Just let us know were to send it, sir. Oh," she blushed. "Callie Roberts, SETI." She added. He smiled at her, making her turn even redder.

Major Lancaster stepped back in front.

"I'm afraid we do not have much to go on. Other than that message and the fact the people disappeared. I would encourage you to speculate, formulate theories and share information." Many conversations broke out in the room. Jack frowned. He flung up his hand and interrupted loudly.

"Begging your pardon, Major, but we know more than that." The room fell silent, as the Major looked at the infamous Captain. "There are currently no less than six ships of non Earth origin in this solar system. Four of them are known allies and "friendlies". One is Hyparionic Mining vessel prospecting for rare metals in the asteroid belt out near Jupiter. The last is unknown. It has failed to respond to hails from us as well as from our allies in orbit." He looked around the room.

"The people of Bangladesh would most likely have been removed by some sort of technology and taken somewhere. That is a lot of people. It would take a tremendous amount of computing power to achieve that. We can most likely rule out disintegrator and disrupter based technology, as they do not distinguish between humans and animals. That means the people are still alive. If a transmat beam had been used there would have been a quick flash of light when it happened. So we can rule that out. They may have used some other form of similar technology though, but most of those leave a visual sign or can be traced." There were several confused looks along the table, as not everyone was familiar with the various terms.

"These allies you speak of… would they be able to help us?" the Major looked thoughtful, if a bit sceptical. Jack smiled.

"They might. We can certainly ask them." He replied. The Major nodded.

"Very well. Get to work people."

Ianto jumped out of his seat and headed over to talk with the young Callie Roberts about getting a copy of the alien message, while Jack called Tosh to get her to contact the Saluvians.

xxXxx

"Jack!" Ianto's desperate cry sounded over the noise of the meeting room. The younger man was clutching a tablet computer in one hand and looked deadly pale. Jack immediately abandoned his conversation with a group of people and all but ran to his fiancées side.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously. Ianto looked awful.

"Listen to this." He said and held up his tablet. "It's the translation." He pressed the screen and it began playing. At first there was a hissing scratching noise, then the voice of a male could be heard.

"Give me Orion." It said menacingly. Jack felt his blood run cold. He felt as if he would pass out any moment. "Give me Orion," the voice repeated. "Or suffer the consequences. Give me Orion or I will take away every Human found within this radius." A pause. "You have one full turn of your planet to comply. Give me Orion!"

'Oh, God! No!' Both Ianto and Jack thought in unison.

"How did they expect us to deliver a constellation to them?" someone asked in the background.

xxXxx

Far away on a windswept planet sat the small form of young Micurii'an. Its small frame doubled over as it crouched in a foetal position. It was sobbing desperately. It had flown in its bird form for as far as its untrained wings would take it, but now it was utterly exhausted – and there was still so far to go. Then with a sudden jerk of its body it jumped to its feet and angrily wiped the tears from its cheeks. 'I can do this. I _have_ to do this. Orion promised I could cry later, but right now he needs me. I _can_ do this.' A look of fierce concentration formed on its lovely features. For a brief moment it seemed to flicker in and out of existence to suddenly vanish altogether.

xxXxx

Warwyn appeared in the Ravine, suddenly standing next to the fallen dragon form of its mate. It turned around quickly spotting the body on the ground and the scattered metal plates under and around it. Its triumph of finally having Jumped for the first time was immediately forgotten as it joined its mate with a small shriek.

"Orion!" it shook his shoulder, but there was no response. It immersed itself in their bond. Its mate's presence could still be felt, but he was unconscious. It checked for injuries, but aside from the already injured shoulder he was undamaged. Thankfully the dragon form is a rather sturdy one, but it was also a very heavy one. There was no way the small Micurii'an would be able to lift it. Warwyn surveyed the surroundings, noticing the cave and some of their stuff stored just inside. Thankfully Orion had crashed onto the ledge of the cave and not all the way to the floor of the Ravine.

With a huge sigh Warwyn got up and set about creating its first ever campfire and making Orion as comfortable as possible. It retrieved some blankets and draped them over the massive form of the dragon, after first cleaning as much of the injury as it could reach. It went into the cave, sparing only a quick glance at the layout, while fetching a food packet and another blanket. It ate its meal watching the sun set over head and the sky darkened. The unfamiliar strange rustling noises from the animals all around were making Warwyn jumpy and it was glad to have the blaster.

An insect of some kind flittered in to land on its arm and it rushed to swat it away. Tears formed in its eyes again, as it felt overwhelmed by fear, loneliness and the weirdness of it all. It would much rather be onboard a ship right now. Even a Curantian slave ship would be better than to be all alone in this strange place. It wiped at the tears that kept rolling down its cheeks and went over to Orion's still form. It folded the blanket around itself and snuggled close to Orion and pulled one of his wings over itself. It would not be able to sleep that night.


	13. Ch13 Space battles and puberty?

**Thank you to PCJanto and Badly-knitted for the wonderful reviews. And thanks for reading.**

Chapter 13 Space battles and… puberty?

Excitement swept through the bunker as the satellite images showed a young girl wandering forlornly among the smouldering ruins of a small town in the Rajshahi Division. Speculation ran rampant as one theory after the other was proposed as to how she could have escaped The Event, as the mass-disappearance of the Bangladesh people was now dubbed.

When news hit the investigation room and the images were displayed on the screen, Jack and Ianto looked at each other. There was only one plausible explanation.

"She's not human." Ianto said loud enough to silence the muttering bystanders. The reactions were varied. Some people were frowning disapprovingly; others outright angrily, as if they blamed Ianto for the girl's unearthly parentage and that he would even suggest such at thing was a personal affront to them. He had seen the looks before, when some types of people were confronted with the fact of the existence of alien life. Quite a few people had their preconceived notions challenged the last few days. He personally couldn't care about them. He was engaged to a man who was born on another world and with genes no longer purely Human and together they had fathered a son with an alien woman and constantly had various members of her family visiting. They dealt with aliens on a daily basis back in Cardiff, so the blessed ignorance of the existence of aliens was one he had long since waved goodbye to.

"The proper question is: Why is she alone there?" Ianto continued, instantly thinking of Orion and whether he might be all alone somewhere.

"You mean there might be others?" a young man asked, looking like he thought the child was a frontrunner of a large scale invasion.

"Well, if she is alien then so are her parents. But where are they? The message clearly said he would take the humans." The young man looked thoughtful.

"Maybe," he said so low that Ianto had to strain to hear him. "Maybe they abandoned her." Ianto thought that an odd thing to say. It seemed as if the man was speaking from personal experience or some such. But before he could comment on it, Jack came over to them. He kissed him on the cheek in greeting - making the two women in the group turn to mush and the young man turn red – and said:

"I just got of the phone with the Valiant. Rea and Xarion have arrived in orbit. They're going to try contacting the unidentified ship. Rea will be down here afterwards." Ianto nodded his understanding. They had told Major Lancaster about Orion and his Saluvian relatives, but the information had been kept under wraps so far. That would however prove more difficult with the arrival of the delegation from Hallow IV. Rea had orders from home to make a proper demarche, though she had promised Jack to keep it low key if possible.

xxXxx

A few hours later Rea still hadn't shown up and Jack was getting worried. It had sounded as if she had been on her way after what should've just been a formality. What in the world could have delayed them?

He found out soon enough, as his phone bleeped with an incoming text.

_Will arrive shortly. Have much to tell. Rea_

He hurried to grab Ianto away from the group he was with and headed for the empty room they had set aside for the delegation. They had to wait only for a few minutes before the room suddenly had twice as many people in it. Rea was looking stately as ever and wearing a smile. Xarion beside her was also smiling.

"Jack, Ianto," Rea exclaimed when she saw them. Her face lit up in an even bigger smile. "We got him. We got Lartorc." Ianto gasped and Jack couldn't quite believe his ears.

"What?" one of them gasped out, though Jack couldn't be sure if it was Ianto or him self who had said it. Xarion beamed at them.

"The ship in orbit, the unidentified one! It was Lartorc's. We blew it up." He almost shouted in youthful exuberance. He was normally such a dignified and restrained person, but Jack liked this emotional young man better. It made him seem more… human; although that wasn't the best word to describe someone of alien birth. A person, would probably be better, he mused. Humans would soon have to expand on their vocabulary to better describe the multi species space age interactions.

Rea put her hand on Xarion's arm and said:

"That's why we are so late. We contacted the ship; its response was to fire at us. The first hit did a fair amount of damage, but it really was just a warning shot. We put up our shields and called for assistance from the Queelor'at Musini – one of our frigates patrolling this solar system." She noticed Jack's angry expression. She hadn't informed them it was a warship. He had been under the impression it was just a harmless science vessel.

"Don't give me that look, Jack," she scolded. "You would have done the same thing. In case you've forgotten there is – was – a madman on the loose and searching for my grandson. Did you really think we would leave the Earth unpatrolled and unprotected?" He sighed. She was right. He would have done the same and the governments of the Earth would have jumped at the chance to flex their muscles without actually causing a diplomatic incident.

It was Ianto who broke the suddenly tense silence in the room.

"What happened next?" Rea smiled, though it was a little strained until she focussed on him.

"Queelor'at Musini engaged the hostile ship in combat. It was fierce." She shook her head in awe. "The hostile ship was smaller, but heavily armed. There was some sort of strange energy signature being emitted from it, that we've never encountered before. The battle lasted for about 30 minutes, which is a small eternity when it comes to space battles. They are usually over with quickly. In the end our side managed to get one more blow in than the other did and that decided it. Our ship blew apart one half of the hostile ship. The remainder was loosing power and had small explosions going off. The Queelor'at Musini was able to tap into the computers before they were fried and download some of the data." She paused theatrically, gazing from one to the other. "When we analyzed the data it showed that not only is there conclusive evidence of it being Lartorc's ship, but also that he is – was – behind the disappearance of your people." Jack and Ianto shared a look, a glimmer of hope appearing in their eyes.

"The strange energy signature we had detected. It's some kind of transmat similar technology, but capable of transporting enormous amounts of people. We don't know where he got it from, but it is certainly not our technology." She looked thoughtful.

"My guess is it was developed as a means of mass evacuation." Xarion piped in.

"Well what ever it was, it's gone now. It was in the destroyed section of the ship."

"Gone?" Ianto gulped. "But what about our people?" Jack put his arm around his shoulders in sympathy.

"With the device gone, we have no way of returning them. We do know that they are alive. Lartorc moved them somewhere. We just don't know where. At least not yet. We are still analyzing the data. It is possible we may be able to recreate the device or obtain another one, if we have enough information about it." She looked at them sympathetically. Jack frowned.

"What about the rest of the ship?" She looked at him a few moments before answering.

"Being salvaged as we speak. The ship is of an unknown origin with unusual technology and there might be more information to be learned from the debris.

"And what about Orion?" Ianto said. The younger man was desperate for some news of their son. Rea was the one best hope they had of finding the boy. With a single genuine smile Rea changed from Rea, the diplomat to Rea, the family member.

"Actually I may have some news on that front as well." She beamed at them, as both Ianto and Jack reacted. They both stood a little taller and leaned in, as if closer proximity to the woman would make the news even better. "I was able to feel his presence for a short moment after the ceremonies on Hallow IV were done. It was really just a brief encounter, like a bleep on a radar screen. But it was enough for me to get a general sense of his whereabouts and his state of mind. He is in what we call the Dula Sector, somewhere in the Razor Nebula… basically the other side of the galaxy, though I don't know the exact location. I sure would like to know how he pulled that off. It's supposed to be impossible."

"Is he all right?" Ianto asked, as Jack asked:

"Can you take us there?"

Rea smiled sadly at the both of them.

"We can leave as soon as the official part of this demarche is over and as soon as our ship is repaired." She hesitated, and then looked straight at Ianto. "I don't want to worry you, but at the time of the contact with him, he was very scared and in pain. But," she hurriedly continued, as both Ianto and Jack went pale. "He _is_ alive and I promise you we _will_ find him." she gripped his upper arm and squeezed reassuringly.

xxXxx

The massive frigate Queelor'at Musini limped through space as it orbited Saturn, taking care to remain on the side hidden from view from the Earth. Repairs were underway to ensure the ship would be able to Jump home to the space repair yard orbiting the seventh planet in the Hallow system. A smaller salvage ship was collecting the remains of the hostile ship, using a tractor beam to bring the smaller pieces aboard to be stowed in the cargo hold. A small leisure craft floated unnoticed among the larger wreckage. Then it suddenly powered up and Jumped away.

xxXxx

Warwyn winced as it stretched its aching back. The lightening sky was the earliest sign of the approaching dawn. Animals were starting to stir. Somewhere in the Ravine a creature started making the morning calls of that species. The sound of it echoed through the Ravine, making it impossible to ignore. Warwyn yawned. It had been unable to sleep in such a strange environment and with such untold dangers lurking in the dark. It could feel the tiredness in its bones, as it looked to the large dragon form lying on the ground next to it.

Orion was still unconscious. He seemed to be comfortable, so Warwyn just made sure the blankets were still tucked around its mate and then it headed to the small pile of kindling it had gathered and saw to relighting the campfire. With that task done it felt the need to urinate and stepped to the furthest corner of the ledge and swiftly undressed enough for it to gain access to the penis that had morphed into being moments earlier. It was almost done peeing over the edge when it occurred to Warwyn what it was doing and exactly what kind of body part it was holding.

'_Does this mean I'm a Nocbi know? _The word was of Mucur'ii origin, denoting a person who had chosen to prefer being male, like Lartorc; as opposed to an Achibi, the female variant. Warwyn frowned at the thought. It just didn't seem right. Nor did the thought of being female. It had often wondered if it might not be the much rarer kinds, the hermaphroditical Nochibi or the permanently gender neutral Oobi. _But… I haven't gone through the Change. I shouldn't be having any preferences yet. _There was a huge gasping sound as a sudden forbidden thought occurred to Warwyn. _What if I have a gender preference that Orion doesn't like? What if he decides he doesn't want me anymore? I'd be all alone._ It looked over at the inert form of its mate.

'_No! Orion wouldn't do that. We have a bond. He won't break it. And he won't be happy with me standing here crying when there are things to do. I can cry when it's over; Orion said so._ With that thought it made the disturbing body part disappear, as if it had never been there, and put its coverall back in order.

"Right, breakfast." It said to Orion. "And then I'll see if I can bring some water up here and some more shrubbery for the fire. We also need some furniture and maybe some baskets. Maybe we can weave some. Do you know how to weave? ... No, neither do I."

The morning seemed to fly past. By late afternoon there was a large pile of shrubbery and kindling for the fire stowed just inside the entrance to the cave. A round boulder inside the cave had been transformed into a table. The top of the boulder had been sheared off using the laser cutter and a stack of three metal plates had been affixed on top. Another metal plate had been hammered with a stone to form a rough bowl shape and was currently placed at the other side of the entrance, supported by appropriately placed stones to keep it from falling over. It was full of water brought up from the river. Another smaller plate had also been pounded into a bowl shape, to be used as pot on the fire.

Warwyn was busy emptying the tent-turned-sack of its contents of soft grasses and small slender reeds. It had the idea to use the grasses as bedding, seeing how uncomfortable the bare rock had been the night before. The reeds - and maybe some of the grasses too - would be the evenings experiment. It had decided to use the darkening light to try its hand at weaving.

That was when Orion began to move slightly and mutter unintelligibly. Warwyn was at his side instantly. Orion was running a slight fever and Warwyn feared the injury had become infected in spite all their efforts to keep the wound clean. It sighed. There was little it could do to help when Orion was in his dragon form. Dragons didn't sweat, so Orion was gasping like a dog and had his tongue hanging out of his mouth. His dragon scales would block out any attempt at cooling him down, like with a wet blanket, but it would also keep him warm in the cold night. It sighed again.

Then it remembered there was a small booklet in the first aid kit describing how to treat injuries. '_Maybe there's something in it about fever treatments_.' It found the booklet and a small section on fever treatment on furry being. It said to put alcohol on the bare skin. Warwyn frowned as it looked at Orion. He didn't really have any bare skin; it was all covered in scales. The palms of his paws were covered in some tiny little scales, but Warwyn supposed it would have to do. It pulled out the small flask of ethanol and small piece of gauze. It had to use half the bottle just to cover the palms of the dragon's paws a single time. '_I sure hope this works, because it sure smells awful._'

Since there was no immediate reaction either way, Warwyn decided to continue with its project. It brought the materials over to Orion's side and set about discovering how to weave a mat. By the time the sun set it had produced a miserable specimen, but the basic concept had been grasped. It would suffice for one night at least. Warwyn put it over the grass bedding next to Orion and wrapped the blanket around it self. Within moments it had fallen asleep, too tired to worry about the strangeness of being on a planet or what might lurk there. Orion slept on, mumbling occasionally in his sleep.

**I'm sorry. I would have loved to write the whole space battle in great detail. I just couldn't do it justice. So instead you have to settle with the eyewitness report. Hope it was okay?**

**And what is up with Warwyn? Puberty? He he, one reviewer has referred to Warwyn as female, another as a male. I take it as a compliment, that I seem to be able to make it convincingly gender neutral. Though that is about to change. Or not ;-)**


	14. Ch14 Strange awakenings

**Thank you to everyone who is reading, fav'ing, alerting and a special thank you to Badly-knitted and Shadowspirit13 for reviewing. Each review makes for one happy writer.**

**Incidentally you can thank Badly-knitted for the comment in the review that caused me to alter the first scene. It was originally just intended to be the beard. To quote Cassandra The Last Human from Doctor Who: "It's like living in a bouncy castle." ;-)**

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><p>Chapter 14 Strange awakenings<p>

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kensington's abridged phrasebook for the interstellar traveller,

Saluvian and Micurii'an - English,

3. issue, 2. edition:

"_**Zuuva**_",

Noun.

Meaning: Beloved mate.

Description: A term of endearment used exclusively by the dominant mate toward the submissive mate. See also "_Ziwa_"

"_**Ziwa**_",

Noun.

Meaning: Beloved mate.

Description: A term of endearment used exclusively by the submissive mate toward the dominant mate. See also "_Zuuva_".

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Warwyn woke up at the first crack of dawn and immediately noticed something odd about its appearance. It suddenly had a beard. A completely full-grown beard from ear to ear and down to its navel. It grabbed a hold of it and yanked experimentally. It hurt. Then its arm brushed over another changed part of its body. Breasts! It had breasts. It hurriedly pulled down the zipper of its coveralls, accidentally pulling out some of the hairs from the beard and bringing tears to its eyes. Blinking to clear its sight it then proceeded to investigate its new appendixes. They were medium sized and rather perky. The rosy nipples hardening in the chilly morning air. Warwyn tucked the beard away under its chin so it could get a proper look, first at the one, then at the other. It put a hand up to touch the softness of them and tested the weight of one. Noticing how the breast wobbled when it let go Warwyn got the idea to start hopping slightly up and down, making the breasts bounce merrily. So busy was it with studying this phenomenon that it didn't notice Orion waking up and staring at it.

"Nice beard." Warwyn shrieked and jumped at the sudden sound. Orion was still lying in his dragon form where he had been resting all night. His amusement was evident in his entire posture and the sound of his voice. His eyes roamed over Warwyn's body and Warwyn felt a sudden wave of embarrassment and shyness that it hadn't felt before around its mate.

"Nice boobs too." Orion added and laughed as Warwyn turned bright red and hurried to cover its chest back up. His merriment was however cut off abruptly by a sharp stab of pain in his shoulder. Sighing heavily he relaxed back down again and just settled to watch Warwyn bring the embers in the campfire back to life.

"Seriously though. Why do you have a beard and breasts?" Warwyn's diminishing blush flushed angrily red again. It looked down at its hands too embarrassed and shy to speak. "Please? I'm your mate. You know you can tell me anything." Orion looked at it imploringly. Warwyn hesitated and then whispered:

"It's the Change." Orion was confused at first, but then it dawned on him.

"Puberty." Warwyn nodded slowly. "But why so suddenly? And so randomly?"

"It's normal for Micurii'ans. There are three – well, four - phases. First phase is spontaneous development of various bodily features found in the adult body." Orion had to smile. He could practically hear the quotation marks. "Second phase is conscious experimentation with various genders to determine a preference. Third phase," Warwyn blushed profusely again and stared down at its hands again. "Third phase is attracting and seducing the bondmate through pheromones and telempathic means."

Orion absorbed this piece of news. There were still so many things he didn't know about their respective species'. He was glad though that the Saluvians and the Humans had a more predictable puberty. But he did know what the fourth phase would be.

"The fourth phase is the consummation of the bond through sex." Warwyn nodded shyly. Orion thought it made a very cute picture then even with the long beard. "And how long do these phases last?"

"It varies." They were silent for a few moments; then Warwyn softly said: "I don't think I'm into beards though." With that it removed the beard, but kept the breasts and got up to fetch some of their few remaining foodpackets. Orion smiled as he watched it go, feeling that life had certainly gotten interesting after he had met his mate.

Warwyn soon returned with the food and set about cooking it in the makeshift pot it had made. Orion observed the process in fascination. Carefully so as not to jar his shoulder he shifted his position to allow him to look around the place. He'd already seen the woven mat beside him and the pot. Now he noticed that Warwyn had made improvements inside the cave as well.

"You've been busy." Warwyn smiled and nodded, pleased that he had noticed.

"You've been out for more than a day. Two nights and a day, actually." Orion felt his blood run cold upon hearing that. _'Oh, my poor Warwyn, my Zuuva.' _Warwyn flinched sharply and gave him a startled look. It had felt his emotions flare through the bond.

"Zuuva, I'm so sorry! You've been here all alone!" Warwyn dropped the ladle it had used for stirring the pot and rushed over to him. It flung its small, thin arms around his large dragon neck and hugged him tight. He couldn't help but notice the new breasts being pressed against him, but he was too distraught to consciously think about it.

"Shh, it's okay." It tried.

"No, I should have been here. You must have been so scared. I'm so sorry."

"Orion, stop it." It pulled out of the hug and glared at him angrily. "You _were_ here. You were just unconscious." It hesitated. "And yes, I was scared. Very much." It swallowed. "I was scared to be all alone. I was scared of this strange place." It looked around briefly indicating the world in general. "But most of all I was scared that I would loose you." It blinked furiously to prevent the tears from falling. Orion was suddenly very glad to be in his dragon form as dragons didn't cry. He used his wing to pull his mate into a tight embrace and started purring deeply to comfort them both.

"I am sorry, my love." He whispered softly and held his little mate as it finally let go of the pent up emotions and sobbed itself to sleep.

xxXxx

A few hours later they were both woken by the onset of heavy rain. Warwyn shrieked as the cold water had its coverall soaked within moments. Orion held his wing over it as an umbrella to shield it from the worst of it. He wasn't really bothered by the downpour. His scales let the water run off without harm.

"Get inside." He told it as he saw the campfire fizzle out and sending up a puff of white smoke. The pot was full of the charred remains of what should have been their meal. That was two precious foodpackets wasted. For a brief moment he was annoyed with Warwyn for not removing the pot from the fire. But he reminded himself that he was the reason it had abandoned the pot in the first place. '_No use crying over spilt milk._'

"Not without you." Warwyn was shivering by now. Orion sighed. Reluctantly he tried to get to his feet, but he collapsed before he could stand. He could hear Warwyn make a despairing whimpering sound, reminding him of a puppy whining. He tried again. His whole body shook with the effort and he felt he weighed a ton – which he probably did, he thought with amusement. His dragon form had grown considerably the last few weeks. A result of his resent growth spurt no doubt.

Slowly he managed to stand. He had to stand and catch his breath for a moment before making the agonizing trek across the ledge and into the cave. Once inside he flopped down weakly, gasping for breath. Warwyn rushed over to him and fussed over him, petting his large head and mumbling worried nonsense meant to comfort him. Nice as it was to be pampered, he could see his mate shivering with cold and it wouldn't do for it to become ill as well.

"Warwyn, go get out of those wet clothes." He told it, startling it a bit. "And see if you can get another fire going. You need to get warm. Don't want you to be sick too." It smiled and jumped to its feet. "Oh, and could you remove that?" He turned his head sheepishly to indicate the soaking wet blanket that had glued itself to his back. He felt so helpless like this. He couldn't even remove a wet blanket by himself.

"Sure." Warwyn beamed at him, delighted to have something to do and to be of some use. It quickly removed the blanket and did what it could to wring the water out. It then draped it over a large outcrop near the side wall and set about doing the appointed tasks. Orion meanwhile was sulking. He hated being helpless and having Warwyn doing all the work. He was supposed to take care of his mate. '_And look how much of a mess of things I've made of that so far! Some mate I am!_' He really wished he could change back to his human form again. But he simply didn't have the energy and the dragon form would heal faster. It would also keep him from getting cold. But still…

He looked on as Warwyn got changed, noticing the pretty, delicate breasts had disappeared. He hoped they would make a return visit, 'cause he rather liked those. But, then again, he really liked Warwyn regardless of how it looked. He could even get used to the beard if it wanted to wear one, though he had been really glad when it said it didn't want that.

Warwyn set about making the new campfire and soon it was lighting up their cave and spreading its warmth. Warwyn threw down a folded sleeping bag beside Orion and used it as a cushion while it leant its back up against Orion's large frame. Orion purred deeply as he grew ever sleepier. He had used what little strength he had and needed to rest as much as he could. Warwyn sighed contently. Just as Orion was about to nod off Warwyn softly said:

"You called me Zuuva." Orion stirred blearily.

"Did you mind?" Orion was almost afraid to hear the answer. Even though he knew what the answer would be, he still feared that it might not be so. He unknowingly held his breath.

"No… Ziwa." They both smiled and Orion let out a relieved breath. With such two simple words his mate had agreed to the roles they each would have in their relationship. There would be no power struggles or needless fights for dominance between them. Warwyn had acknowledged Orion as the dominant partner. They sat in companionable silence and soon Orion nodded off to sleep.

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><p><strong>Sorry it was a bit short. It just felt right cutting it there.<strong>


	15. Ch15 To kiss or to kill

**Thank you for reading, alerting, fav'ing and reviewing. It means a lot to me.**

Chapter 15 To kiss or to kill

It rained for an eternity or so it seemed to the two young people that were stuck in a cave on an alien world. In reality it had only been four days, but it was long enough for them to get quite bored and hungry. They had run out of food on the third day. Orion was feeling better physically. He had spent a lot of time in a healing trance, hoping it would speed up his recovery. His shoulder still bothered him, but it was healing nicely. His energy was climbing back up, now that his blood supply had replenished itself. But that would soon change if they didn't do something about the food situation.

He looked at his mate. Warwyn was still going through the random changes of Micurii'an puberty. This morning it had woken up with a very female lower body and a very masculine upper body. It made for an odd mix, though Orion found himself getting rather breathless when he thought about it. He would love to see Warwyn managing a complete gender change; be it either male or female; he didn't really care. He found them both attractive, which rather surprised him. He had never really given his own preferences much thought. He had always focused on the fact that he had a mate and thus ignored his body's reactions to other people.

He thought about Aimee who he had gone on a date with. The date had been a disaster and he had been terrified the entire time; too terrified to really notice her that way. He supposed he had found her attractive, but she just wasn't his mate. Warwyn on the other hand… he was constantly aware of it. Its presence, its moods, its thoughts, its actions, its appearances. He could sense the changes taking place, the hormones that had started surging. Its behaviour was changing as well. It was beginning to experiment with how the changes influenced them both.

Last night it had made a rather obvious show of removing its clothes for washing. It had undressed slowly and had taken care to emphasize certain bodyparts, like slowly slipping the coverall down exposing it's shoulder or when it came to removing the trouser-part, it put it's foot up on a rocky outcrop and felt it's own leg all the way down as it used both hands to carefully remove the garment. Orion had been completely mesmerized by the show. He couldn't have looked away if his life had depended on it.

Even now he became all hot and bothered just thinking about it. He was in his human form now, having changed back yesterday. Without the solar radiation to feed from, his dragon form would require too much food to fill such a large stomach. He sighed. _How could he be thinking about sex when they had other more pressing matters to attend to? _He looked to his mate. Warwyn was sitting by the fire weaving something. Or rather trying to. It was difficult to tell what it was supposed to be and Warwyn itself seemed to get frustrated. Indeed, as Orion was watching it suddenly growled and threw the item into the fire. It quickly caught on and burned, sending up gray streams of smoke. Warwyn jumped up and stomped off to the cave entrance and stared glumly at the rain outside.

Orion carefully got up and went over, stood behind it and wrapped his free arm around his mate. His other arm was held securely in a sling to prevent him from jarring his shoulder too much. Warwyn leaned back into him, wordlessly seeking comfort. Orion planted a gentle kiss on its hair and kept silent. After all, what was there to say? The stood together gazing out into the Ravine and the swollen river below.

"We have to go search for food today." He said softly after a long while. Warwyn lowered its head and sighed.

"But it's raining." It mumbled quietly. It really hated the rain. It had grown up in spaceships where it never rained and where you never got wet unless you were taking a bath. '_You never got cold and hungry either_.' It shivered and pressed a little closer to the warm body behind it. Orion squeezed it a little tighter.

"I know. But if we don't do it now, we will be too weak to do it later." Warwyn sighed. It knew he was right, but still.

"What about your shoulder?" It felt Orion move his bandaged shoulder experimentally.

"I'll be careful." It sighed and nodded. It knew he was hurting, but it wasn't like they had any choice. Orion let go and went over to their supplies searching for something. When he returned it was with a small folding shovel, some bags and two small packages. He threw one of the small parcels at Warwyn who deftly caught it. Playing virtual ball games in the gym had been one of its favourite pastimes.

"Open it." Orion said as he did the same to his own identical package. It turned out to contain a hooded poncho in see-through plastic. Orion quickly put his on and started gathering the rest of the items, including their small axe and the blaster. When he saw that Warwyn was just standing there staring at him, he dumped his armful of items at their feet, grabbed the poncho, unwrapped it and moments later had Warwyn covered by it. He smilingly brought the hood up, covering Warwyn's semi-long hair, tightened the string pulling it closer around its face and placed a soft kiss on its forehead. Then he bent down and grabbed the items at their feet.

Seeing the armful of stuff that really was too heavy for Orion to be lifting just yet, Warwyn hurriedly snatched some of the heavier items, like the axe and shovel.

"What are these for?" it asked. Orion smiled at it.

"I'm hoping we can find some roots and plants we can eat. Maybe some herbs for seasoning, maybe even for some tea." He was smiling wistfully now. '_Ah, a nice cuppa; that would do nicely just about now._'

"But we don't know what we can eat or not. What if it's poisonous?" Orion looked at it in surprise.

"Of course we know!" Warwyn was looking at him as if he had grown another head. Orion sighed. He really should stop forgetting that Warwyn was ship-born and bred.

"Look. When you were on the ship, didn't you know the dangerous stuff from the safe stuff - without being told?" Warwyn was frowning in incomprehension. "When I was little I would always stay away from my Tad's broom cupboard, because I could sense that it was bad." Warwyn was still looking confused. "I could tell that the chemicals used for cleaning were bad for me, just like I could tell the food in the kitchen wouldn't harm me." Warwyn was showing signs of understanding now.

"Like staying out of the engine room after a hypermengantizide cleaning vent." It mumbled. Orion wasn't entirely sure what it meant, but assumed it was something bad for the health and nodded.

"Yes, it is a survival skill all Saluvians and Micurii'ans have, even as small children. But it means that we can tell which plants are poisonous and which are not. We'll have to experiment with the flavours though." He said and laughed slightly. Warwyn sent him a small smile, still not entirely comfortable with the whole thing, but trusting him enough to go along with it.

"Now come on. We've better get going."

xxXxx

The trek along the bottom of the Ravine was a rather arduous one. The big boulders were slippery with the rain and wet moss and the rocky gravel moved unpredictably under their feet. Sometimes they would get splashed by the water spray from the swollen river that was now showing pools of white water rapids and rushing in a great current along almost two-thirds of the Ravine bottom. The noise of it was deafening.

They walked for maybe half an hour before finally reaching gentler territory. It was at a slight bend in the Ravine. The gravel gave way to proper soil and plants. Tiredly they sank down onto the wet grasses. They were careful to sit on the plastic poncho, so as not to get soaked. It was still raining but it had lessened to a fine drizzle.

Orion stretched out his awareness to their immediate surroundings. He could sense no dangerous life forms near them, aside from a small ground burrowing insect. He sent the warning along to his mate, who sent a warm grateful feeling back. Then he focussed on the plants. He was sitting right next to a brown-gray plant that had his senses tingling with danger. He made sure not to touch it. Beside it was a fragrant blue-green plant with small white flowers. It was safe, but didn't entice him, the way edible plants on Earth did. He kept searching.

He found a great deal of plants that were safe to eat; though some of them would need cooking to be made entirely safe. He was also sure some of the plants had medicinal properties, though he wasn't sufficiently trained to be sure. It was something Xarion and Rea had yet to cover in his training. The thought of his relatives brought him out of the searching trance. He sighed. He really wished they were here. He looked at Warwyn, who was drinking some water out of a bottle they had brought. He was responsible for more than just himself now and the thought was frankly a bit daunting. Warwyn noticed him looking and smiled at him. It handed him the bottle and he drank from it gratefully.

"Will you teach me?" it asked with a small smile. He smiled back. How could he not, when it was looking so cute? It was sitting there in the massively too big poncho, dressed in a coverall that had to have its legs and sleeves rolled up to fit and with bare, dirty feet, because neither of them had been able to create a pair of shoes for it. Transforming objects was a skill they both had yet to master. Life as castaways would have been so much easier if they could just take a stone and alter it into whatever they needed. '_Maybe that can become the next thing to practise in the evenings.'_ He thought.

"Sure. See this plant?" he pointed to the poisonous one beside him.

xxXxx

They practised for a while. Warwyn quickly caught on and before long they were both laughing with joy at sharing the experience. Orion couldn't be prouder of his little mate and Warwyn was just so utterly pleased with mastering this new skill, that it threw itself into Orion's arms and hugged him; knocking him over in the process. Orion was too surprised to take notice of the twinge of pain in his shoulder, as he suddenly found himself pressed into the ground with his rambunctious mate on top of him.

Warwyn squealed with joy and hugged him close and Orion laughed heartily. He could feel the lithe body on top of him, holding his free arm tightly around it. Unwillingly he felt himself get aroused and his body responded… down there. Warwyn felt it too and it stopped moving instantly. Their eyes met, locking onto one another, unable to look away. Their breathing was become breathless and Warwyn was soon sporting a furious blush. Neither spoke, not daring to break the spell they were under. Gathering all his courage Orion slowly pulled Warwyn down to meet him in a warm, moist kiss.

Warwyn seemed to melt into him; all thoughts of pubescent awkwardness forgotten, as the kiss brought them together. Their bond came alive and seemed to sing with untold joy as they took this first tentative step toward completion. Neither of them noticed the rain soaking them, or the bug crawling on one of their legs. It was as if the world and all their troubles had vanished and left only their newfound attraction and love for each other. Eventually though they had to return to reality and some much needed air.

Gasping they broke the kiss and Warwyn rested its forehead on Orion's. Before either could speak, they heard a fierce grunting and rustling in the brushes. Orion rapidly rolled them over, bringing Warwyn below him and in one quick move transformed into a lion. He stood over Warwyn's smaller body and growled deeply in his throat at the menace that dared interrupt him and his mate. Warwyn remained were it was, sensing through the bond that Orion wanted it to stay there. Wide eyed it looked up at the large form its mate had taken. It had never before seen a cat of any kind, but was most impressed. It could see the strong muscles of the front legs and the chest - and the form practically oozed power and dominance. Warwyn was hard put not to reach out and touch the soft looking fur, but it didn't want to distract its Ziwa, as he was busy defending them both.

Orion was staring at the shrubbery. He could sense there was a threat in there. A creature about the size of a medium sized dog. It was making growling noises at them. Then suddenly without warning it burst forth and charged at them. Orion registered the mouth full of razor sharp teeth and the strange way the mouth seemed to open. It opened not only horizontally like their own mouths did, but also vertically. More importantly though was that all those teeth were aimed straight at his mate. Orion roared a mighty lion's roar and charged the beast.

They clashed violently. The brute force behind his attack caused them to roll along the ground. Orion bit down hard on the first part of his opponent that he could get to, which turned out to be the side of the neck. It screamed in furious pain. He grabbed it with his front paws and sunk his claws into it and bit down on the neck again, making it howl once again. He then brought up his hind legs and started kicking at the soft underbelly of the beast, making sure his claws were out and ripping. The beast struggled and almost tore free. It was incredibly strong and had claws of its own. It attempted to claw him with its wide paw, but only succeeded in scratching him. Orion growled deeply in his throat, but didn't let go.

The beast snarled furiously and struggled violently to get free. Orion was tiring and becoming desperate. He needed a better hold of the beast. He couldn't choke it with the placement of the bite, but if he let go he would be at the mercy of those many sharp teeth. The beast's claws were doing enough damage to him and he was beginning to feel the strain.

That was when he heard another creature growling nearby. He had a moment of panic, before it was upon them. He caught a sight of some black fur and a muscular arm, when the creature bit down on the back of the beast's neck, right next to Orion's hold. He used the beast's distraction and bit down on the underside of the neck and got a firm choke-hold. The beast intensified its struggles, growling in its throat, until Orion tightened his bite. The beast gasped uselessly for breath and Orion could feel it tiring. Then suddenly the creature above them relinquished its bite and in one swift move it grabbed the beast by the head and broke its neck. It was dead instantly.

The creature withdrew immediately and slumped to the ground panting. Orion slowly rolled the dead beast off him and spat out the small lump of fur and flesh he had in his mouth. He had still been biting on when the beast's neck had been yanked from his hold. He stared guardedly at the creature. It appeared to be a sort of black orangutan with very sharp teeth. Then he recognised it. Warwyn! Every ounce of hostility seeped from him as if it had never been. He bounded over to his mate and started licking its now furry face with his big saw paper like tongue. Then he bumped his head all over it, rubbing his scent all over, marking his mate as his property. Warwyn was laughing loudly, having changed back into its original form again.

"O-o-o-orion s-stop. It tickles." It managed to say through laughs. Orion reluctantly backed off and flopped down on the ground. He noticed one of his many scratches and started licking it clean. Warwyn looked at him smiling fondly and then looked over at the dead animal.

"Wow. We really did it." it said sounding awestruck. Orion lifted his head, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth and purred happily.

"You did it. You made the kill." He said telepathically through their bond. Warwyn looked at him with a large smile.

"No, _we_ did it. Together." Orion purred louder.

"Together." He said. Warwyn got up and went over to the animal. They would need to carry it home somehow and figure out how to skin it and carve it. Orion changed back into his human form and went over to it. He put his free arm around Warwyn, kissed it on the temple and said:

"Let's get the plants first. We can figure out what to do with it when we get back to the cave." Warwyn nodded and they set to work. When they had gathered all the plants they could fit in the two bags they had brought, they decided to head back. Orion grabbed the two bags and Jumped, and Warwyn quickly followed him with the beast and their tools.

Once back at the cave they both took time to get cleaned up and dried off. Orion needed to have his shoulder re-bandaged and his many scratches cleaned. After that Warwyn set about sorting the many different plants, putting some of them into plastic containers. It wished they had some baskets for the roots, but it couldn't be helped for now. Orion, meanwhile, was busy dealing with the carcass of their kill. He had no idea what they were going to do with it all. There was way too much meat for them to be able to preserve. They didn't have a freezer, so they couldn't just store it. They didn't have salt either, so that option was out as well. He supposed they could smoke it, but he didn't really know how that worked or what they would need. He suddenly found himself cursing his relatives for never taking him for survival training, though he wasn't quite sure if they taught meat-smoking at such courses.

The carcass was lying on the table Warwyn had made. The metal plaiting had been thoroughly scrubbed before hand and he had several plastic containers ready. He looked at the knife in his hand. '_Ohhh-kay, here goes._' He gingerly cut along the belly of the beast. It already had a lot of gashes from where his claws had ripped into it. Carefully he removed a segment of skin from the stomach area. It came away remarkably easy. Thus encouraged he proceeded to skin the rest of the animal. By now Warwyn had finished sorting the plants and came over to watch.

Orion put the skin aside knowing that it could be cured somehow and become usable. Next he would need to remove the innards, which was not something he was looking forward to. Carefully he used the knife to slice into the animal, taking great care not to puncture the stomach. Once it had been opened he was able to remove all the innards and the intestines. He explained to Warwyn that if they cleaned the intestines they could be used for sausages. Warwyn actually looked sick at the very idea, having never had sausages before. Granted, the intestines didn't look particularly appetizing, as Orion dumped them in a container.

He looked at the carcass in front of him. It was gory work, but it wasn't really as bad as he had feared. He yanked the hip bone out of its socket with a strong twist of his hand and threw the leg down onto the metal plate kept for that purpose. '_Maybe they could hang it over a fire and smoke it that way?'_ Warwyn swallowed audibly, but said nothing. It took him about half an hour before he had the animal cut into various pieces. The tendons were piled on the table and needed tending to at some point. He knew they could be used for all sorts of things, but wasn't entirely sure of how to go about it. For now he would just leave them.

He instructed Warwyn to put the pot on the fire, while he cut up some of the meat into small cubes. Then he dumped them into the pot along with some of the body fat and told Warwyn to get stirring. Warwyn happily complied. When the meat was fried on the outside, he added water to it and again told Warwyn to stir slowly. He then tied the rest of the meat to a piece of rope and used some of the metal poles to hold them suspended over the fire, like clothes drying on a line. He was rather sceptical if it would work, seeing as the smoke didn't cover the hanging meat entirely. Some of it seemed to be cooking rather than smoking. But it was the best he could do for now. They would definitely not be hunting such large prey again until they had a means of preserving it.

He cleaned up the table by spreading a bit of sand over it to soak up the blood. Then he wiped the sand onto one of Warwyn's failed attempts of mat weaving and used water to scrub the rest clean. After that he cleaned the roots; selecting some for use now and saving the rest for later. He grabbed a few of the purple roots and cut them into slices. The tan roots he cut into small chunks and finally sliced the leek-like plants. He dumped them all into the pot, which was now starting to smell delicious.

Warwyn followed his every move, keen to learn how to cook. Neither of them had spoken of the two major incidents of the day. The kiss and the attack. It was as if neither dared approach the subjects and had settled to just enjoy each others company for now. Orion searched through the plants and located the ones that could be used as herbs. He also found the one he thought might make a nice tea. He chopped the herbs and added them to the pot then set about making two cups of herbal tea for them. Before long he had two steaming cups and handed one to Warwyn. It smiled at him as it accepted the cup and closed its eyes as it inhaled the fragrant scent. Orion smiled at it and took a careful sip of his own tea. It tasted like jasmine and bergamot to him. It was nice.

Warwyn felt like it was in heaven floating around on a happy-cloud. They had food cooking, soon to fill their empty stomachs. They had a roof over their heads to keep away the rain that was coming down hard outside. They were dry and clean and now its wonderful mate had brought it a liquid piece of paradise that brought warmth to its very toes. It opened its eyes to see the very same mate looking at it intensely. It blushed a little, remembering how close they had been and how aroused its mate had been… and the kiss. It smiled blissfully. It was brought out of its reverie by the sound of Orion's chuckle. It blushed again and dropped its gaze; taking another sip of the tea.

Orion got up, walked over to his mate and gently touched its cheek, caressing it softly with his thumb. Then he turned to stir the pot and ensure the food didn't burn. When the food was finally done he served the both of them. They ate in silence, side by side. The food was delicious and they both had seconds. Every now and again there would be a loud thunderclap; the rain was really coming down hard now. As the evening turned to night, Warwyn snuggled up next to Orion, who put his arm around it.

"I like this."

"Me to."

**Hope you enjoyed this.**

**If you haven't read it already: Be sure not to miss my one-shot that takes place between "Then came Janto…" and this story. It's set in the same verse and has the Doctor in it as well.**


	16. Ch16 Family matters

**Thanks to Badly-knitted and PCJanto for reviewing. You warm my heart. Thanks also to everyone still reading this.**

**Warnings: It get's a bit… ehm… gory.**

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><p>Chapter 16 Family matters<p>

Warwyn woke late one night, feeling very confused as to why. Orion was sleeping soundly next to it, one arm flung loosely over its waist. It lay for a minute listening to his deep breathing, feeling the warmth of his breath as his exhales blew on the back of its neck. It loved snuggling close to him, especially at night. It felt so safe and loved in his arms. It knew that he would fight to the death to protect it from all harm. It shuddered. He had killed for it - back on that awful ship. It still had nightmares about what had happened. _'How could uncle Lartorc do that?'_ It felt its eyes tear up. _'We've never done anything to him. Why?'_ It began to sniffle.

It was just so incomprehensible. Lartorc had arrived one day at the mining field they were servicing. Its parents hadn't been too pleased with seeing him there, but their relationship had been strained for years, so that wasn't surprising. Warwyn had hidden outside their room when they had shouted at each other. Sadly the soundproofing had been too good for it to hear what had been said. Then it had heard a weapon firing and had rushed into the room to see what was going on. That had been foolish, it knew, and a big mistake. Lartorc was standing there with a stunner in his hand and Warwyn's parents were both sprawled on the floor. Warwyn had screamed and tried to run, but had only made it halfway down the corridor when it too had been struck by the debilitating beam from the stunner.

When it had come to it found itself strapped into a strange device. Its parents were there one on either side of it. They looked really bad, but no matter how hard it struggled it couldn't get free. It felt as if it had run a marathon through water. Just keeping its head up took a massive effort. It heard laughter in the room along with various machine noises. Dazed it looked and saw a group of furry beings laughing with its uncle Lartorc. Warwyn had cried out to him, called him uncle, but the man had just walked over to it, given it a look full of contempt and punched it in the stomach. Warwyn had still been gasping for breath when Lartorc had walked away laughing.

Warwyn slowly sat up, taking care not to wake Orion. It moved his hand away and he soon curled in on himself in his sleep. Warwyn smiled softly at the sight. It had been Orion that had come and saved it. He had done the impossible and broken through the fabric of the universe or something like that, just to come and rescue it. Sadly he had been too late to save its parents. Warwyn strangled a sob, trying desperately not to make a sound. Oh, how it missed its parents. It missed its mum, who always had a smile on her face; it missed the bear hugs its other parent would give it, before swinging it around in the air in a big circle. A memory surfaced of its mum explaining the intricate workings of the Moonatchi Doppler Mantifold while they sat hunched together in a small access tube surrounded by tools and wires and dismantled pieces of machinery. Warwyn sobbed.

Suddenly strong arms were enfolding it in a loving embrace and its head was snuggled against a firm chest. It sobbed and clung on, feeling as if its heart was breaking. '_They were supposed to be here!_ _My parents were supposed to be here to take care of me and help me go through the change. They were supposed to be here to dance at our bonding ceremony and play with their grandchildren, when the time comes. But now they never will.'_ The sobbing intensified and Warwyn cried for a long time. Throughout it all Orion just held it tight, stroking it calmly; knowing that right now there were no words that would comfort his mate with the grief it was feeling.

He had long since told Warwyn about the madman chasing after him and his surviving siblings. They had both been stunned and appalled upon discovering that the madman in both their lives was one and the same. He supposed it brought them a sense of togetherness, of destiny. He found it incredible that a person would sell his own family members to such a horrible fate. But then again he probably shouldn't be so surprised. The man had after all murdered his own wife and some of her innocent children. He hated the thought of Lartorc being out there somewhere, doing who knew what. He hoped he would be captured soon, so he and Warwyn could sleep better at night.

He hugged Warwyn tighter, feeling the need to reassure himself that it really was safe. He looked down at it. Its face was all red and puffy from crying and it had gotten snot all over its face and his chest. Its eyes were half shut and tears were still rolling down its cheeks, though with less intensity than before. Its hand was resting over his heart as if feeling his heartbeat. He smiled lovingly down at it at kissed its brow. Then he began humming a lullaby ever so softly as he rocked it gently. He didn't have much of a voice. In fact he was hard pressed to carry a tune, but it didn't matter now. Pretty soon Warwyn had fallen asleep and he gently lowered it to lie down and pulled a blanket over them.

xxXxx

He woke a few hour later still tired but for some reason unable to sleep any further. Warwyn was snoring slightly beside him, looking a mess from the crying, but also looking rather cute and vulnerable. Orion felt his heart skip a few beats when he looked at it. Carefully he removed himself from the makeshift bed and walked outside. It had finally stopped raining and the stars were peaking through the scattering clouds. He walked over to the far side of the ledge and relieved his bladder over the edge.

It was while he was standing there that he noticed an unusual glow coming from the plains above the Ravine. He finished urinating and curiously Jumped up on the plains to see what the cause was. What he saw left him breathless.

xxXxx

"Warwyn, wake up. Come on, wake up, Zuuva." Orion was shaking it.

"Wha..?"

"Come on. Up on the plains. You have to see this." He said excitedly. Warwyn blinked blearily at him, still exhausted both physically and emotionally.

"What? Where?" it said tiredly. It really wasn't in the mood for games.

"Upstairs. On the plains." Orion said patiently and wrapped Warwyn in its blanket. "Come on." He repeated and Jumped away. Warwyn blinked at the now empty spot a few times, before sighing tiredly and Jumped as well.

When it got there it found itself looking at its mate, who was gazing out over the plains in an awestruck fashion. Warwyn turned to see what he was staring at and felt its breath hitch at the amazingly beautiful sight. The entire plains were covered by shining white flowers. They were all glowing with such radiance that they could easily see every blade of grass and every shrub. Just like when it was a full moon on earth. The flowers themselves were gorgeous and delicate looking. They reminded Orion of Lilies. The whole plain was covered with them and the air was heavy with their sweet scent. Warwyn bent down to touch one, only to have it wither completely in a matter of seconds.

It stood back up and threw its arms around Orion, hugging him tightly. They stood like that for a long time; gazing out over the flowers and watching the alien stars appear behind the diminishing clouds. They did not get back to bed for a long time and when they went to check the next morning, the flowers had all withered. They never saw the spectacle again.

xxXxx

It was about a week and a half later that Warwyn woke up in a completely male body. It hadn't really noticed as it went about its normal morning routine. It didn't give it a thought when it held a penis in its hand while peeing over the ledge, as they had taken to doing, because it had found having a penis in certain situations a lot easier. It meant that it didn't need to completely undress - a coverall was completely unpractical that way – when it needed to pee and it could do so standing up.

So it wasn't until Orion had come back to the ledge after a morning dip in the river and had stopped talking mid-sentence, that Warwyn figured something was different. It looked down at itself and a slow smile spread across its features. It hurriedly unzipped the coveralls and stepped out of them. It had an athletic build, though not too muscular. Wide shoulders, firm chest, narrow hips, strong arms and legs, it even had the hint of a sixpack. It beamed at Orion quite pleased with the current body, but was surprised to see him averting his gaze and blushing. Deciding to have a little fun, Warwyn slowly walked over to him.

"Hi, Ziwa. What do you think?" It flexed its new muscles and made a few moves as if preparing for a physical exercise. Orion swallowed audibly and his blush intensified.

"Y-you," he cleared his throat. "You look very nice." His eyes refused to meet Warwyn's. It moved closer, pressing its body against his. A look of mischief in its eyes.

"Just nice?" it pretended to pout. Orion's eyes flashed quickly to meet Warwyn's and then away again. He swallowed again.

"Put some clothes on." He managed and Warwyn taking pity on him laughed and went over to retrieve its coveralls. It could feel Orion's eyes on it as it redressed.

"Minx." Orion mumbled softly as he headed over to the fire to get warmed up. Though the weather was improving and it was getting warmer, the river was still awfully cold. But they didn't have access to a shower and boiling all the water needed for a warm bath would take too long and require too much energy. The cold morning dip also had the added function of providing them with food.

Warwyn had been the one to discover the fish swimming in a shallow pool further down stream. After some trial and error they had managed to catch some using a grass woven net. Warwyn was actually getting rather good at weaving now. They had also managed to build a trap to catch some of the oversized guinea pig-like creatures they had found living in one of the caves further down the Ravine. The surplus meat from the beast that had attacked them had to be thrown away since they hadn't been able to preserve it properly. Orion had since built a small chimney to smoke meat in; he had stacked some stones in a rough cylindrical shape and used clay as mortar. They had learned to use wet shrubs and herbs to generate a lot of scented smoke but little heat. All in all things were going well for them.

Orion was sipping his second cup of herbal tea when there was a deafening noise coming from somewhere above. They both jumped to their feet.

"That's engine noise!" Warwyn shouted. "We're saved!" Orion shook his head.

"Could be hostile." Warwyn's momentary feeling of joy deflated. They both looked up as the sound came closer. Soon a dark silhouette flew over the Ravine. Pretty soon the noise died down and the two young people looked up at the edge of the Ravine uncertainly. Orion cursed to himself and rushed into the cave to grab the blaster. He ran back out again and grabbed Warwyn's hand, pulling it back into the shadows of the cave. They hid staring anxiously at the upper edge of the Ravine on the far side.

They didn't have to wait long. First one figure appeared, then another. They appeared to be humanoid, though they really only could see the silhouettes, as the sun were behind them. Then a very familiar voice shouted:

"Helloooo!" Orion gasped. He wanted to Jump immediately, but Warwyn still had a strong hold of his hand and arm. He half dragged it along with him out of the cave as he shouted:

"Daddy!"

Warwyn let go of him, sensing his need to join his family and he immediately Jumped. When he saw them he couldn't help but shout to them: "Daddy! Tad!" and flung himself into their arms. They held him so tightly in a three-way-hug he feared he would die of asphyxiation. But right at that moment he didn't care. He never wanted to let go of them ever again. They were all crying happy-tears and he had no idea how long they had been holding each other. Then he heard a third person sniffle and looked over his shoulder.

"Rea!" he wrestled free of his parents and flung himself into his grandmother's arms. Xarion was beside her and the moment he touched Orion's back, Orion flung himself into his arms as well. Then he threw himself back into his Tads arms and felt his Daddy wrap himself around the both of them, just like when he was younger.

"Oh, Love, we've been looking all over for you!" his Tad was crying.

"It's true! We've searched for weeks." his Daddy was saying and ruffling his hair. "And look how much you've grown!" Orion beamed at him. He was only half a head shorter than his Tad now.

"And who's this?" Rea said behind them. Orion smiled the biggest smile yet, as he once again freed himself from his parents. He rushed over to Warwyn who was standing apart from the rest and looking very shy and uncertain. It had returned to its neutral gender form again. He grabbed its hand as he looked deep into its amethyst eyes and smiled at it. It sent him a small smile in return. Turning he carefully led Warwyn over to the others.

"This is Warwyn. My mate." He told them with such tremendous pride in his voice, that they couldn't help but smile. Warwyn half hid behind him in shyness, until he pulled it forward and put his arm around it in a comforting hold. Warwyn smiled shyly at these people that were obviously Orion's family. It could see his resemblance to the two humans.

"Hi." It said timidly. Rea was the first to react. She smiled greatly at the young couple and warmly said:

"Greetings, Warwyn. I am Rea, Orion's grandmother. I am so glad to finally meet you." Warwyn cocked its head to one side, narrowing its eyes a little. Then it gasped.

"It was you! Back when I rejected him… that was you!" the others looked a little confused, except for Orion and Rea. She smiled and nodded. Warwyn blinked away an unbidden tear.

"Thank you." It said softly. Again Rea nodded. Orion squeezed his mate tighter to him. They had both been hurt by the closing of the bond and he was glad Rea had been able to help them.

"Zuuva," Orion gently got its attention again and ignored the twin gasps from Rea and Xarion upon hearing that title. "These are my parents. My Daddy, Jack Harkness and my Tad, Ianto Jones." Warwyn looked at the two humans. One was beaming a smile at him that was so familiar that it couldn't help but smile back. The other was also smiling, but more reservedly so.

"Hello, Mr. Harkness. Mr. Jones." It said, suddenly feeling afraid of their reaction. '_What if they don't like me? What if they don't want me to be with Orion and try to split us up?'_ It felt the warm assurance from Orion through their bond, but it wasn't enough to keep the panic from its eyes. The friendly man, the one Orion called Daddy, was laughing.

"Please, call me Jack and that's Ianto. You're part of the family now." He threw his arm around the other one, the one Orion called Tad. The man seemed to loosen up and smiled more friendly.

"Yes, of course you are. I'm pleased to meet you, Warwyn, and I look forward to getting to know you better." The smile reached his eyes and that more than anything persuaded Warwyn to relax. It smiled at the man and they seemed to reach an unspoken understanding.

"Well," Jack said loudly, breaking the emotional atmosphere. "Have we got stories to tell you! And it looks like you have some to tell us too." he said and wrapped his arm around Orion's shoulder. Orion chuckled fondly and hugged his Daddy's side. He had missed him something terrible.

xxXxx

They were sitting around the campfire, sipping the warm herbal tea Orion liked so much, while waiting for the food to be cooked. They were making a stew similar to the one they had made for their first meal using local ingredients. Except this time the meat was the more tender meat off one of the freshly caught guinea pig-look a likes. The adults had all been most impressed with everything they had been able to achieve on their own. Especially Xarion and Rea, seeing as how used they were to just transforming everything they needed. Jack had even cracked a joke that they could teach the team survival skills for when they got back home.

They had all laughed at the joke, but Orion had gotten all misty eyed at the thought of going home again and Warwyn was feeling really happy at the small admission that they would not be separated. It was snuggling up close to Orion, who had his arm around it. Sometimes it would feel a bit self-conscious when it noticed one of the adults looking at them, but the feeling of having Orion so close was just too good to do without.

Xarion made a joke about seeing the humans being transported down one at the time to the cave on the back of Orion's dragon form. Though the man was used to seeing Orion's monstrously large dragon form he still saw dragons as vermin and the sight of a slightly terrified human riding one was just too hilarious for him. They all laughed when Jack pretended to be offended, claiming he would ride any dragon anywhere and Ianto softly saying that he didn't appreciate his fiancée riding anybody but him. Warwyn had blushed furiously, but Orion had just laughed, being rather inured to lewd remarks.

The uplifted mood lasted all the way through the meal until the conversation turned serious. Ianto told them how the people of the entire nation of Bangladesh had vanished into thin air and how they had received a threat for them to hand Orion over to Lartorc. Warwyn had been terrified upon hearing it and Orion was hard put to calm it down again. He had then told the adults how Lartorc was Warwyn's uncle and what the man had done to it and its parents. Ianto had jumped up from his seat and come over and hugged Warwyn – and subsequently Orion too as Warwyn was in his arms. Jack had been furious and wowed once more to seek vengeance on the miscreant.

When their emotions had settled some, Orion continued to tell them how he had rescued Warwyn, how they had ended up on this planet, of the awful storm and their move to the Ravine. He told them the entire tale and was soon getting hoarse from speaking so much. Rea handed him another cup of tea and he drank it thankfully.

"I must say, you've had quite the adventure." She smiled at him. "I can't tell you how proud I am of how well you've done. And you've been taking such good care of Warwyn too." she smiled at it and patted it on its arm.

"I didn't do it by myself." He told her. "'sides, Warwyn took care of me too." he smiled lovingly down at it. Warwyn was practically sitting in his lap with its head on his shoulder. Warwyn smiled up at him.

"Together." It said softly, not really meaning the others to hear. The two young people were lost in each other and the adults could only just smile at them. Ianto was having a bit of an internal struggle. One part of him was relieved and happy to have his son back safe and sound, while another part of him was frowning in parental concern. '_Orion is still so young. What is the exact nature of their relationship? Have they slept together? Surely they are too young for that.' _Gasping he realisedthey could have and that without protection._ 'How old did a – whatever Warwyn was – have to be in order to be able to conceive?'_ He realised that they couldn't put The Talk off for much longer.

As if sensing his thoughts Orion chose that moment to look up and met the worried gaze of his Tad. Frowning slightly he sent a wordless question to his Tad, who shook his head unwilling or unable to answer. Jack noticed the little byplay but decide to ask Ianto about it later. Instead he chuckled and said:

"Well, that's all very nice and good. But don't you want to hear how we kicked Lartorc's butt and found you?" That got both Orion's and Warwyn's attention, as well as the others. Xarion spluttered, while Ianto chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"That is not exactly what happened, Jack!" Ianto told him. Jack sent him a well-you're-no-fun-look.

"Did too. We kicked his butt, he took off and here we are." He beamed at them and winked at Orion and Warwyn. They both smiled at his antics. The others laughed except Xarion, who sighed with an air of longsuffering.

"What you mean is that the Saluvian frigate, The Queelor'at Musini, engaged Lartorc in combat after he had first rendered our vessel inoperable. The frigate won the engagement after a fierce battle when they managed to destroy half the ship." Jack stuck his tongue out at him.

"That's what I said. We kicked his butt."

"We?" Xarion was huffing, while Jack was having a field day. The man was so easy to goad.

"So," a small voice said. "Lartorc is dead?" Xarion looked gently at the owner. Warwyn was peeking up at him from Orion's embrace. It broke his heart that he had to destroy the glimmer hope evident in its eyes, but they didn't know for certain.

"His body was never recovered. It is possible he escaped."

Warwyn hid its face in Orion's chest, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by it all. Orion just held it tighter and sent his love along their bond. Ianto put his arm around Jack, feeling the need for support himself. Jack smiled softly at him and kissed him. Just a quick peck on the lips, but it brought comfort to Ianto just the same.

Rea smiled softly at them all.

"I'm just glad we finally found you." She said. "We've been looking for you for a long time now. I had sensed you were in this nebula – it's called the Razor Nebula, by the way – and this sector, the Dula sector. But other than that we were clueless. Space is so big after all and we couldn't pick up on your distress signal any where. We had to wait for the ship to be repaired, but once it was we Jumped to this sector and set up a search parameter. We've been criss crossing this sector for something like two weeks now. Then we came across an automated distress signal from the lifeboat and the moment we were in this system I just knew you were here." Orion sent her a beautiful smile. She hugged him – and Warwyn – with one arm and kissed his temple.

"I bet you can't wait to be going home." Xarion said with a twinkle in his eye. He had been very worried that their search would be in vain. He had to admit he had gotten rather fond of his young pupil. Orion nodded with a smile.

"Yeah." He smiled at the thought of a long, hot shower, of sleeping in a real bed, of seeing the others again and most of all of going back to not having to worry about their survival all the time.

"The others really miss you too. Tosh even threatened to castrate us if we didn't bring you back soon." Ianto said with a smile. Orion laughed at that, causing Warwyn to whimper a little as its head was being jostled against his shoulder. He stroked along its back as an apology.

"Yeah," Jack said. "But you have some major sucking up to do with Myfanwy. She's furious with you being away from her for so long."

"Remind me to buy her a huge chocolate bar." He said. Ianto chuckled.

"More like twenty and a whole barrel full of fish." They laughed a little. It was something of an insider joke between father and son and not something the others would understand. Before anyone could say anything though, there was a bright flash of light in the sky and a burst of orange rolling over the planets atmosphere. Both Rea and Xarion gasped. Rea was leaning heavily on Xarion, who looked ready to fall over himself.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Orion said, as Jack and Ianto both jumped to their feet.

"The mothership. It's gone." Rea whispered breathlessly.

"What do you mean gone?" There were shocked gasps all around. Xarion looked ready to faint, but the shock of feeling all those deaths was really too much to handle to a Sensitive such as him. Rea was looking pale as well.

"It's been destroyed." She gasped. Orion tried to stretch his awareness up into space, but his range was still too limited.

"How?" he asked. Rea just shook her head.

"We should get back to the transport. Maybe its sensors can tell us something." Xarion said and with a nod from Rea he Jumped away. Rea followed him moments later. Jack ran to the edge of the ledge and looked both up and down to find a path up to the plains. Not finding any he turned back to Ianto, Orion and Warwyn.

"Right, Orion, we need another lift. After that you come right back here and stay with Warwyn."

"What? No! I want to come too." Orion protested. Jack marched over to him and glared at him.

"You'll do as you're told. It's not up for debate." He was in full Captain's mode now. They had no idea what was going on or if there was a threat and he would be damned if he would allow his son to put himself in danger again. Orion sensed it and nodded tersely. _'I'm not a little kid anymore!'_ he thought angrily and transformed into his dragon form. His Daddy climbed onto his back and held on as Orion flapped his wings and lifted them off the ledge. Ianto and Warwyn looked after them with mixed emotions. Ianto put his hand on its shoulder in an effort to calm its nerves; he could practically feel it shivering. They watched as Jack and Orion disappeared over the top edge of the Ravine.

A few minutes later a bright red bolt of light shot down from sky and all hell broke loose.

The transport exploded in a giant ball of flames. The pressure wave blasted both Jack and Orion of their feet and they were both engulfed by the fire. Only a quarter of the ship remained and the debris from the rest of it was flung in every direction. Orion was still in his dragon form, which kept him moderately safe from the flames, but the blast had addled his senses. Jack had not been as lucky. The man had been burnt quite badly and had a large metal fragment embedded in his stomach. His clothes were still on fire. He was screaming in agony as Orion dazedly got to his feet and wobbled over to him. He used his wing to bat out the flames and carefully bit down on the remains of the man's clothes; lifting him away from the destruction zone and the heat of the fires.

His Daddy screamed in pain as he put him down. Suddenly a movement appeared at the corner of his eye, making Orion flinch. But it was only Warwyn, who frantically had wrestled free of Ianto's grip and Jumped to Orion's side. It rushed to them; checking quickly to make sure Orion indeed was okay, before focusing on the deadly injured Jack. It gasped and put both hands to its mouth and flung it self against Orion's shoulder, hiding its face. It had never seen a person so damaged before. And the smell! Cooked meat and engine fuel. It gagged.

"Kill me." Jack whispered, making Warwyn sob audibly in horror. Orion shook his head terrified.

"Please." Jack croaked almost inaudibly. "Please, kill me." The look in his eyes was something Orion would remember the rest of his life.

"Daddy…" Orion was at his breaking point. Had he been in his human form he would have been crying, but dragons weren't able to. He cried inside though and Warwyn's sobbing didn't help.

"I'll come back…" Jack pleaded. It hurt so much. He didn't know how much longer he could stay conscious. He knew it was an awful thing to ask of his son, but there were no one else. Warwyn wasn't in any state to do it. Rea and Xarion had been inside the transport when it exploded and Ianto presumably was back at the cave. Not that he really gave such rational thoughts to their situation. He was suffering a slow death and knew if he was killed it would be quick.

"Please." He screamed again as a stab of pain shot through his body. He had internal injuries as well. Before he realised what was happening, Orion bit down on his neck; he was dead before he had even stopped screaming. Orion fiercely bit down on the metal protruding from the now dead body and yanked it away; spitting it out bitterly.

Warwyn jumped back, staring at them with huge, horrified eyes. It knew about Jack's ability to come back to life. What horrified it was that Orion had actually done it. He had killed his father. It was a mercy kill and the man _had_ been begging for it and he _would_ come back, but still! Orion changed back into human form and sat looking at his Daddy. Tears were poring down his cheeks now. Warwyn hesitated. Every instinct told it to get away; that its mate was dangerous. But it could feel his devastation through the bond and instinct or not it couldn't abandon him. Slowly at first and then rapidly it moved to his side. The moment it touched him he flung himself in its arms and sobbed.

Then they heard maniacal laughter.


	17. Ch17 When dragons do battle

**This chapter is dedicated to Badly-knitted and PCJanto for their wonderful reviews and support. Thank you to everyone who is reading this.**

**Warning: Death of a character. **

**Oh, I hope you won't be disappointed… *wrings hands nervously***

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><p>Chapter 17 When dragons do battle<p>

They both flinched violently at the sound of the laughter and turned to see the man causing it. Warwyn gasped loudly.

"Lartorc!" it shivered with fear and clung to Orion for protection. Orion growled deep in his throat, feeling a feral instinct rise up in him, that he had only felt once; when he had rescued Warwyn. This was the first time he could remember being face to face with the man and knew him only by his reputation and mental images from Warwyn. This was the man that had hurt his mate; who had sold his own family to a slow painful death; who had murdered Orion's mother and siblings; who had infected a whole city's worth of children with a disease and had stolen 161 million people from Earth - just to get to him.

Lartorc laughed loudly again. The obnoxious cackle made the nerves in Warwyn's teeth stand on end. The man himself was rather unremarkable to look at. Medium height, medium built, dark hair and dark eyes. What made him hideous were the menace and the madness emanating from him. There was a wild, unpredictable look in those dark eyes, which was unsettling to behold.

"Well isn't this precious! Little Warwyn back from the dead." He said tauntingly. Warwyn drew even closer to Orion. "How's your parents, _pet_?" he asked, his voice dripping with scorn. Orion growled furiously, sounding almost like his lion form, though he was human right now. Only Warwyn's clinging kept him from charging. Lartorc glared at Orion.

"Ah, the cheater's spawn. Don't you threaten me, filth. You're not big enough to take me on." Orion growled deeply again, threatening the man. "Let's get rid of the trash, shall we?" With a subtle move of his hand he made the ground tremble and open. Jack's temporarily dead body slid into a fresh hole and the soil covered him up. Orion and Warwyn had to leap out of the way, so as not to be caught in the earth movement. Jack was gone before they knew it.

"No!" Warwyn shouted, but remained attached to Orion's arm, cowering. Orion focused on Lartorc, trying to spot weaknesses and finding a way to kill him. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind, that he wanted this sorry excuse for a person dead. Lartorc smiled menacingly.

"Yes." He said gleefully. "Now I must say that I am quite pleased with finally catching up with you, scum. I've been trying to kill you for so long now; it's almost become a lifestyle." He laughed.

"Proves you're incompetent as well as crazy." Orion said calmly. Lartorc glared at him.

"You need to learn how to speak to your betters. You are nothing but a piece of garbage feeding dragon filth." With that he pointed his hand toward Warwyn and a stream of golden energy burst out and flew straight at Warwyn. It hid the young Micurii'an and sent it to the ground screaming in pain. Orion's feral instinct flared and – ignoring the pain in the bond – he said threateningly:

"Oh you have no idea." He transformed into his dragon form and stood looming over the man. Lartorc's eyes widened upon seeing a truly massive dragon in front of him. The only dragons he had seen until then had been tiny, rodent sized ones. Then he smiled slowly and changed. He assumed the form of a dragon, similar to Orion's but of a different species. His was fiery red and purple with bluish dorsal spikes all along the spine. Orion's dragon form was bronze-brown with purple highlights and was sleek and streamlined without spikes. It was muscular body and made for flying. Orion drew in a deep breath and blew flames at the other. A small part of him cheered inside when the flames came out, remembering his failure earlier when they had just arrived on this world.

Lartorc just laughed and didn't even move out of the way. The flames hadn't been powerful enough to cause any harm to him. Orion charged him angrily, but the moment his claws impacted with the other dragon, he was flung away by its powerful tail. He landed heavily on the burnt ground. Then Lartorc blew his flames at him. They where white hot and Orion could feel his scales melting under the fierce heat. He screamed in pain.

Then there was a loud yell from Warwyn and a rain of stones were telekinetically pelted at their adversary. Lartorc broke off his attack when a particularly large stone hit him in the eye. He roared and sent a flame in Warwyn's direction. The adolescent dove for cover, unscathed. Orion used the distraction to attack again. His teeth pierced the soft scales of Lartorc's neck and he grabbled with the dragon to get a good hold with his clawed front paws. The man struggled and managed to claw Orion. Lartorc then used his strong tail to wrap around Orion's hind legs, bringing him down on the ground. Orion growled and bit down harder, but the man managed to get free of the teeth. Lartorc roared angrily and bit Orion in a series of bites. His jaws were not as strong as Orion's; designed for quick bites, rather than a strong hold.

Orion struggled, yelled a battle cry and finally managed to free himself from the tail holding him trapped. With renewed fury he kicked at the other in a cat-like fashion, relishing in the fact that each kick sliced through the scales of the dragon's soft belly. They rolled around on the ground, literally kicking and screaming. At one point they almost rolled over Warwyn, who narrowly avoided them. Warwyn had been busy trying to unearth the buried body of the Captain.

Orion used his flames again and blew it straight into the face of the other dragon. Lartorc snarled angrily, but didn't stop his attack. Orion then tried using his tail as a whip; leaving an angry mark on the upper hind leg of his opponent. He did it again and again. Lartorc screamed in fury and used his own tail to pound Orion into the ground. Orion gasped for breath. His tail was by no means weak, but Lartorc's was more powerful. It had felt as if he had been hit by a sledgehammer. Lartorc tried again, but this time Orion was ready and rolled closer to Lartorc. The tail thumped heavily into the ground, leaving a deep impression in the ground.

Orion saw his chance then. Lartorc's front paw was right in front of him. Without a moments hesitation he chomped down on the wrist, severing the paw from the arm. Lartorc roared in pain, but Orion was merciless. He bit down on the other wrist as well, tearing that limb off as well. He kicked with his hind legs, mauling the now weakened dragon in front of him. The man still struggled, but was growing feebler by the minute. The blood was gushing all over the place, covering them both and the surrounding area.

Soon Orion had the other dragon in a neck hold in proper dragons fashion; Orion was biting the back of the others neck forcing him to submit. After a bit more struggling Lartorc surrendered. Orion bit down a bit more, just to prove his victory and then let go. He backed away a few paces, panting to catch his breath. He was bleeding badly himself, he had second and third degree burns and he was sure some of the claw marks would need stitches. He took his eyes off Lartorc for a second, to see how Warwyn was doing. Next thing he knew he was being attacked by Lartorc again, who had transformed himself to get new temporary front paws. The attack bore the signs of being an act of desperation; a last ditch all out attempt to kill him. The impact knocked the air out of his already starving lungs and they rolled over a few times, biting and clawing at each other furiously.

Orion hadn't been aware of how close they had been to the edge of the Ravine, but suddenly they were tumbling over the edge and falling. Lartorc was still clawing and biting at him as they were falling and he had no choice to do the same. Lartorc had wrapped his tail around Orion's body, preventing him from disengaging and Jumping.

Orion's eyes widened as he saw the bottom of the Ravine rapidly approaching. It was a 300 meter drop, which wasn't really much at all, when you were unable to stop plummeting. They rolled around in the air, still falling. He had to do something. Now! In a last desperate move Orion changed from dragon to human, thus becoming small enough to slip free of Lartorc's grip. He Jumped away just moments before Lartorc's dragon body hit the bottom of the Ravine with a sickening thump. Orion appeared some ten meters away and instantly changed into dragon form again; ready for another attack.

Lartorc changed back into his Micurii'an body, which was bleeding profusely from the two arms Orion had dismembered. His breathing was shallow and rapid. It was clear he was badly injured. Orion carefully stepped closer; wary of another attack. When one didn't seem forthcoming, he changed back into his human form and stepped up to the wrecked body on the ground. He knelt down and grabbed the man by the hair.

"Why?" he said, his voice full of venom. Lartorc smiled a cruel but tired smile.

"Because." He whispered and coughed up a bit of blood. Orion picked up a stone and held it threateningly over the man's head.

"Tell me!" he growled. Lartorc chuckled soundlessly. The mad look in his eyes was still very much there.

"No." he answered with menacing smile and a taunting glare. Orion roared in angry frustration and moved to pound the man's face in with the stone, but a hand on his arm stopped him. Warwyn.

"Don't." it whispered in his ear. "It's what he wants'." It looked down at the man, scowling as if it saw something distasteful. Louder than before it said: "He doesn't deserve such mercy."

Slowly Orion relented. He dropped the man's head – with an angry move that made the man's head bounce once of the stone covered ground - and flung the rock away from his hand. With a tired sigh he rose to his feet and put an arm around his mate. Together they began walking away.

"Don't… don't you walk away from me." Lartorc cried feebly. "Come back here, filthy half-breed, you traitorous son of a cheating whore. Your mother squealed like a Tyroon when I killed her." Lartorc was weakly trying to sit up, supporting himself on his elbows. When he saw them still walking away, as if he no longer mattered, the final vestige of sanity snapped and fled from his broken mind. He laughed maniacally.

"That's right. Run! I'll only follow you. Where ever you go. Where ever you hide. I'll always find you." Then he sent a telekinetic push after them, knocking them off their feet. Orion let out a cry of pain as a rock struck his already injured side. Warwyn gasped, before quickly turning around, sitting up and firing Jack's gun straight at Lartorc.

The sound of the shot reverberated among the walls of the Ravine and the bullet soon hit him in the chest. A moment later another shot sounded and Lartorc's head practically exploded as the beam from the blaster impacted. The corpse fell in a heap on the ground. Warwyn looked up and saw a rather bedraggled Ianto, still pointing the blaster at Lartorc.

xxXxx

Ianto was soaking wet, his clothes were torn in places and his hands were dripping blood. He would later tell them how he had climbed down the sheer cliff face of the Ravine and forded the river only to have a pair of battling dragons fall down into the Ravine near him. He had raced to the scene as soon as he saw Orion in human form and arrived just in time to make absolutely sure the madman would be dead.

"Are you two alright?" he yelled frantically as he approached.

"I'm fine." Warwyn said as Orion was shaking his head no.

Warwyn looked from father to son. Both were rather worse for wear, with injuries that needed to be treated. They also had to get up to the blast site again and unbury the other father and see if they could find out what had happened to Rea and Xarion. The cockpit part of the transport seemed structurally intact and there was a chance they might have been there when the explosion occurred.

"Can you fly?" Ianto asked Orion. "We need to get up stairs." Orion changed into his dragon form again and tried out his wings. His awful cringe of pain gave an obvious answer. He changed back into human and looked very apologetic. Ianto put his hand on his son's shoulder, regretting it when the youth flinched away in pain.

"That's okay, Love. You've done enough. Jump back to the cave and get some rest. We'll handle it from here."

"No! I want to help. I need to h..help." He started swaying a little unsteadily. Warwyn put out a hand to steady him. Ianto was about to protest, when Warwyn spoke.

"Ziwa, please go to the cave." It looked at him imploringly. Orion looked into its eyes, wanting to protest. "Please… I don't want you to pass out again like you did before." Ianto looked from one to the other, marvelling at the easy rapport they seemed to have.

"But…"

"Please." Orion looked at his pleading mate and felt a moment's annoyance at being manipulated, but he knew he couldn't say no to his Zuuva like this.

"Okay." He said quietly. Warwyn smiled warmly and stood on tip toes and kissed him. The kiss lasted only a few moments but was long enough to be more then a peck, but not too long for it to become awkward. They broke away and Orion cupped Warwyn's cheek briefly while they smiled softly at each other. Then he took a step back and Jumped. Warwyn became aware of Orion's father looking at it with a peculiar look in his eyes. It blushed.

"Let's get to it." it said.

* * *

><p><strong>I hate it when my characters refuse to do as I want them to. Lartorc was supposed to have a longer 'I'm an evil madman'-moment, but Orion decided to ignore me and attack him early. And it was always going to be Ianto who'd kill Lartorc, but Warwyn just had to take a shot at it too. Oh well, maybe it works better this way.<strong>

**So, not too disappointed, I hope?**


	18. Ch18 A rock and a hard place

**A special Thank you to PCJanto, el33ri and badly-knitted for reviewing the last chapter and thank you to everyone reading this.**

**Badly-knitted, you're probably going to hate me for this… Sorry :-/**

**Warning: Death of a character**

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><p>Chapter 18 A rock and a hard place<p>

"Wait, how are…?" Ianto said, as Warwyn changed in front of him into a beautiful yellow bird. It reminded him of a large yellow peacock with its long tail feathers and a crest on top of its head. It was quite breathtaking, but it wasn't large enough to lift a human. Ianto was just about to say so, when the bird, Warwyn, started to grow.

"Woah!" he stumbled back a step or two. Within minutes the bird was gigantic, every bit as large as the two dragons had been. It blinked at him, waiting for him to do something. When he showed no response, Warwyn sighed and moved its head, to indicate that he should climb onto its back.

"What? No! I'm not climbing onto your back." Ianto said suddenly appalled. He normally had no problem with flying, but now the thought made him balk. He didn't know this kid after all, although Orion would probably have his hide if he didn't trust his mate. His fear was irrational, he knew that it was, but it didn't change things. He backed away.

Warwyn sighed. It would seem Orion's father wasn't going to climb on. Well there was nothing else to do then. It shook its body, stretching its wings and with a mighty flap it took to the air. It wasn't used to being that big, so it put rather too much effort into it and found it self higher up than it had intended. It circled experimentally, getting a feel for the larger frame and the air currents in the Ravine. Then it circled back and swooped down and grabbed Orion's father off the ground.

Ianto yelled in surprise and fear. He had tried to duck out of the grip, seeing the bird coming, but failed. He was now dangling perilously from Warwyn's claws and the bottom of the Ravine was getting further and further away. His heart was pounding in equal parts mortal fear and exhilaration. He had never felt anything like this. He knew that he would fall to his death if the bird opened its claws. He remembered seeing birds kill crabs that way, back home. But at the same time it was so much fun flying through the air like this, being totally free of machinery. He understood now, why Orion never wanted to come back down, when Myfanwy and he went flying together. He understood now why the dragon was Orion's favourite form. He understood now.

Warwyn strained itself to keep climbing. The updraft had disappeared and made the flight a strenuous one. Its wings were still largely untrained and it had never had to carry something so heavy. It was breathing hard now and its wings were tiring, when they finally cleared the upper edge of the Ravine. That was when a strong gust of wind pounded into them. The strength and surprise of it almost caused Warwyn to lose its hold of the human. The man yelped, but was powerless to assist. Warwyn would have gritted its teeth if it had had any in this form and continued.

Finally they made it over to the destruction area and Warwyn glided in for landing. But another strong gust of wind blew it off its course, to the side and downward. It released its grip on Orion's father before slamming into the ground hard. It felt its wings break with a loud snapping sound and it screamed in pain.

Ianto fell the short distance to the ground and rolled out of the fall. He got a bit bruised and would be rather sore in the morning but was otherwise unharmed. He hurriedly got his bearings and rushed over to Warwyn. The bird cry had sounded unnervingly eerie. He could immediately tell that both its wings were broken, one of them quite badly. It lay gasping, crumbled into a heap. Before Ianto could do anything to help, Orion appeared at their side. He looked around frantically and spotted Warwyn on the ground. With a small cry he rushed down to Warwyn's side and gently held it in his arms. Warwyn changed into its normal form again, though the broken yellow wings remained attached to its back. It whimpered and Orion drew it closer into his embrace. He looked like he would collapse any moment, being badly injured himself. Ianto decided to scold his son later and left the two alone for now.

Instead he got up and walked on shaking legs over to the wreckage. The ground was hollowed out and charred from the fire. There were pieces of the wreckage scattered all over the place and many of the fires were still burning. The main part of the remaining wreck was the front of the transport. It was where the cockpit had been located. It would have been designed to act as a bomb shelter and an escape pod in case of anything like this happening. Hopefully Rea and Xarion would have been in there when they were hit. He walked around it, climbing over a large twisted metal beam. He had to find a way in.

"Tad." Orion called. He looked over and saw the two adolescents standing near the upturned soil, leaning on each other for support. Orion was bleeding badly and looked to be in considerable pain and Warwyn's wings hung limply in an odd angle. He rushed over to them and made them sit on the ground.

"Take it easy. You're both hurt. You shouldn't move around too much." He scolded gently. He put his hand on Orion's cheek and on Warwyn's shoulder, wishing desperately that Owen was there to help them. What he wouldn't give to hear the snarky doctor's grumbling right now.

"Tad, Daddy is over here." The youth pointed in the direction of the disturbed soil. Warwyn's previous attempt at unearthing him was still visible. "We need to get him out. He can't revive until we do and we need his help." Ianto nodded. He was only one man, after all. With the children both injured there was no way they could help and they still needed to find Rea and Xarion and they might be in a bad way too.

"Maybe…" Warwyn said. "Maybe I can help." Orion looked at it sharply.

"You're hurt. You can barely move." He protested.

"I might not have to." It said with a weak and tired smile. It turned to look intensely at the place where Jack lay buried. Ianto frowned in confusion uncertain what was going on. But Orion had a look of understanding and expectance on his face. Then Orion smiled slowly and Ianto turned to see… he gasped as he saw the small stones and some of the soil begin to tremor and lift into the air.

"That's it. Keep going. You're doing great, Zuuva." Orion whispered, careful not to break his mate's concentration. "Don't try to lift it all at once. Just move a little at a time." Warwyn nodded and kept going. The airborne dirt flew calmly to the side and deposited itself in a pile. Then a new layer rose slowly into the air and floated to the side. It kept at it. Layer by layer the hole got deeper and the pile grew larger.

Soon Ianto spotted a fingertip peaking up through the soil and he set to work digging with his hands, ignoring the pain of his already damaged fingers when they grated on the rocks and pebbles and the burn of the dirt in his wounds. He dug on and followed the contours of the arm down to the shoulder and soon located the head. He brushed the dirt away from his fiancée's face and almost wept at the sight of him. His features were locked in a death mask of horror and pain. The burns were gone and Ianto realised the man must have revived while buried alive only to die again from lack of air. That meant his airways could still be blocked.

Frantically he opened Jack's mouth to find it full of more dirt. With trembling fingers he scooped it out as much as he could. But there would be more dirt lodged in his throat. His eyes began to well up in the frustrated horror of it. _'What if I can't get it out?_' He began gasping desperately. It was almost as if he could feel himself choking, trying desperately to breathe, but was unable to. His chest constricted in an acute panic attack and all he could think about was Jack dying like this, buried alive.

Then suddenly a feeling of calm flooded him, as if someone had poured a bucket of icy water over him. He blinked and looked up… into Warwyn's calm eyes. Their eyes remained locked as his breathing gradually returned to normal and his heart rate slowed.

"Thank you." He said softly. Warwyn smiled softly and nodded. Then it turned to look at the man before them. He was still half covered in dirt, but his upper half was free. It winced as a stab of pain came from its wings and it refrained from moving any further. Very carefully it held its hand out over the man's throat and closed its eyes. Ianto was looking on, growing more and more worried.

"What..?" he began, but was cut of by Orion shushing him. He glared at his son for a brief moment, but soon forgot all about it when he saw small pieces of dirt floating out of Jack's mouth. He glanced at Warwyn, who was completely absorbed in its task. It was trembling slightly and had a sheen of perspiration on its face. It was clearly taking a lot of effort and concentration. Several minutes later the young Micurii'an leaned back with a wince of pain, gasping for breath. Orion put his arm around it and it leaned into him a little.

Now all they could do was waiting for the man to revive. Ianto sighed. This was the part he always hated. The waiting, the uncertainty, the longing for the man to return and yet the silent hope that this time he would find peace. It was such a contradictory desire, both wanting his lover to die at last and dreading it. He would always fear that the man wouldn't come back to him, but at the same time he wanted him to be happy and not suffer eternally. He sighed and placed Jack's head in his lap.

They waited.

Orion spent the waiting period searching for Rea and Xarion with his mind. He stretched out his awareness to the wreckage and searched for any life signs. He almost screamed with joy when he found the both of them alive. They were indeed in the cockpit, as they had suspected. One of them, Rea was rather weak, but Xarion seemed to be strong enough. They were both unconscious however. He hoped his Daddy would awaken soon. Rea badly needed their help.

xxXxx

Jack came back to life with a huge gasping breath and then promptly began coughing the remaining dirt out of his lungs. Ianto tried to soothe his aches, by rubbing him gently. After recovering Jack looked around him and saw his loved ones around him. _'This had to have been one of the worst ways to die_', he thought to him self, _'but a good way to come back_.'

"Miss me?" he said cheekily. Ianto rolled his eyes, but Jack could feel him squeezing his arm a little tighter. Then he noticed the state of Orion and his mate.

"What happened?" his fear for them evident in his voice.

"Lartorc." Ianto said grimly. Jack jumped to his feet looking around for the enemy. Ianto jumped up beside him and put his hand on his arm. "Easy. He's gone now. We," he indicated the kids and him self. "Made sure of that."

"Gone?" Jack sounded rather dazed.

"Yeah, he's dead." Orion said with a soft growl in his voice. Warwyn whimpered slightly, causing Orion to rub his head at its temple in a cat like fashion.

"But…" Jack was confused. He couldn't seem to take it in. The big bad villain that had caused them so much grief was gone? "How?"

"Later." Orion said with a touch of urgency. "Rea and Xarion need help. They're in the cockpit and Rea is hurt badly. They're unconscious." Jack nodded, getting into Captain mode again.

"Ianto." He made a motion for Ianto to follow him.

xxXxx

It took a while for them to dig their way in to cockpit door through all the debris. The door itself was jammed tightly shut and the hydraulics was not functioning. In the end Warwyn had to Jump back to cave to retrieve their laser cutter. It made short work of the door and they were soon able to gain entry.

Xarion was laying spread over the controls. His head was bleeding from a cut where a piece of the metal framework from overhead had come down on his head. But other than that he just seemed to suffer from bruising. Rea was another matter. She was lying on the floor twisted around the base of the pilot seat. A large piece of metal was pinning her down and was lodged in her leg and her left arm. The arm had been almost severed. There was blood all over the floor, but not as much as one would expect given the severity of the injury. The metal piece was blocking the flow of blood.

Jack rushed over to her and immediately removed his belt to use it as a tourniquet. They couldn't risk moving the metal or Rea would bleed out. Ianto was removing Xarion and carrying him outside. Jack looked at Rea. She was pale and clammy to the touch. He cursed Lartorc, wishing the man wasn't dead, just so he could get the pleasure of killing him. What the hell were they supposed to do now?

Her leg was broken and the metal was cutting into it deeply. They would need to stop the blood flow on that leg, before lifting the metal. He hoped the main artery wasn't damaged. Ianto came back in.

"How is she?" he asked. Jack shook his head.

"Bad." Ianto put his hand on his shoulder and Jack turned to luck up at him. He had tears in his eyes. "I don't know how to save her." Ianto had tears in his eyes now too. "If we move her, she'll die. If we move the metal, she'll die. If…" his voice broke and Ianto hurriedly hugged him. They broke apart moments later. Jack looked at the woman on the ground. Her breathing was growing shallower. They were loosing her.

xxXxx

Outside the wreckage the three invalids were resting. Warwyn was tenderly attending to Orion's injuries, trying to staunch the bleeding with a scrap of its clothing. Orion had finally collapsed in exhaustion and was resting with his head in Warwyn's lap. Xarion was lying close by, stirring slightly. Warwyn looked up at the two men as they exited the wreckage. It knew just by looking at them, that the news was not good. One of them, the one Orion called Tad, noticed it looking at them and came over.

"She didn't make it." he said gently. Warwyn felt a surge of coldness rushing through its veins. Orion would be devastated. Feeling the surge of emotion through their bond, Orion squirmed and whimpered a little, but didn't wake. Warwyn nodded its understanding and the man gave them a weak sad smile, before going back to his lover. The two men hugged and Warwyn could hear one of them sob. It wanted nothing more than to curl it self into the arms of its mate, but he was lying with his head in its lap, preventing it from moving too much. Instead it slumped down over him and placed a tender kiss on his forehead.

xxXxx

Xarion came to about a half hour later to the sound of Orion screaming in pain. He sluggishly turned to the side and saw Jack stitching up some deep gashes on his son's body. Ianto was holding the youth down, while Warwyn was trying to comfort its mate. Oddly enough Warwyn had yellow wings sticking out of its back and they seemed to be broken. Xarion felt something on his head and moved his hand up to touch it. It was a bandage. He must have hit it at some point. He wondered what had happened. One moment he was looking at the controls of the transport and then… nothing. '_Rea! Where's Rea?'_

He searched for her through the connection they shared, but she was gone. He frowned, as his head throbbed. _'Why would she close it?'_ he wondered. Then it dawned on him. She was gone. His mentor was dead. He closed his eyes as the pain overwhelmed him. But he couldn't give in to his grief. The screams from Orion called him back to the present and the tasks at hand. With a heave he crawled over to the others and put a hand on Orion's forehead. With a moment of concentration he sent the boy into a deep healing sleep. Ianto and Warwyn both looked at him gratefully. Both had tears streaming down their faces. But it was Jack who said:

"Thank you." He then proceeded to pour a dollop of disinfectant on Orion's wounds and continued sowing him up with practised moves. Xarion briefly wondered how the man had learnt how to do that. This time the youth stayed unmoving and silent. Ianto sniffled a bit and used his sleeve to wipe the tears of his face. Normally he would have been appalled at such an action, but this was a different situation. He took one glance at the winged youth beside him and snatched it into an embrace. It cried into his shoulder and he just held it, rocking it gently.

Xarion stumbled to his feet, swaying a little as a wave of dizziness hit him. When it passed he surveyed the area and the people remaining. He was frankly amazed he had survived, what looked like some type of powerful explosion. The ground was charred, debris everywhere. He couldn't see Rea's body anywhere, but was certain they hadn't had time to bury her. '_She must still be in there.´ _he reasoned. He longed to go in and pay his respects, but the living needed him more right now.

Orion had obviously been badly injured somehow and Warwyn had two broken wings. Ianto also looked rather worse for wear, with bleeding hands and bruises all over. Jack seemed fine though. Filthy, but fine. Xarion remembered being told of the man's immortality and figured that was the cause. It was still a rather disconcerting concept to him, but he couldn't hold it against the man. It wasn't like he could help it, after all.

He sighed and went over to Warwyn and Ianto. When he placed a hand on Warwyn's shoulder, the adolescent turned to look up at him.

"I want to put you into a healing sleep, so we can set your wings." He told it. It looked up at him with big teary eyes. "Do you know where we can find something to brace the bones with?" It nodded and sniffled a little.

"Down in the Ravine. There are some plants up stream you can use." It sent him an image of the plants in question and what it knew of their properties. It had used some when weaving, to make a stronger frame.

"I'll be right back." He said to no one in particular and Jumped. He found the plants quickly enough and soon had what he needed. He Jumped back. He had expected to find them as he had left them, but Warwyn and Ianto were both standing gazing at the horizon.

"There's a storm coming." Warwyn said a tone of dread in its voice. The adults all remembered the very descriptive tale the children had given them of the storm that had knocked them about in the life boat. "We have to get back to the cave." There was a long moment's silence. Then Jack said:

"How? Only you and Xarion can Jump. Orion is not awake and shouldn't be moved and Ianto and I can't Jump or fly. We don't even have a rope long enough to lower us into the Ravine with."

"We could use telekinesis." Warwyn said defiantly, glaring at Jack.

"Do you think you could?" Xarion interrupted before an argument could develop. Warwyn looked thoughtful, and then slumped a little.

"I've never lifted anything as heavy as a person before nor moved anything that far." Jack threw up his arms and was about to scold the child, when Ianto slapped his arm hard. They glared at each other. Xarion ignored them.

"It's a good idea." He said, making Warwyn perk back up from its embarrassed slump. "I can move the three of you and Warwyn can Jump back on its own." It nodded happily at that.

An hour later the people were tending to their wounds in the safety of the cave. Some animals were prowling around the corpse of the insane madman lying at the bottom of the Ravine. Above the storm was howling across the plains like a demented animal.


	19. Ch19 the great escape

**Thank you to everyone reading this story and an extra special thank you to Badly-knitted for reviewing.**

**Warning: Lime. It's been marked, but it's not too graphic.**

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><p>Chapter 19 The great escape<p>

It was in the middle of the night as Jack sat at the cave entrance and listened to the wind howling up above the Ravine. They had been stuck in this blasted cave for three days now. It was raining hard and the river had swollen, filling the entire bottom of the ravine. A large thunder clap sounded straight over them and the lightning bolt struck the cliff above. The sound of it was deafening and the echo of it seemed to go on forever. Surprised sounds came from inside as the otherwise sleeping occupants of the cave were abruptly awakened. Jack couldn't help but smile a little. This was a rough world, but the sight of the storm was breathtaking and awe-inspiring. He had been to other planets that had similar severe weather. Even the Earth could show some pretty damn impressive weather systems. But he had never really been exposed to it as he was now. He had always been tucked away safe and sound indoors. Or at least had the option to. Here there was only the small cave to offer them protection and shelter. It made him feel small and humble. _'Probably for the first time in a long time_', he thought with a wry smile.

He adjusted the thin blanket he had wrapped around his shoulder. It was one of Xarion's creations. The man really was a god send. He had made blankets, bedding and clothing for all of them, as the meagre supplies the kids had had, were soon depleted. The man had also made a rough stair in the wall going down to the bottom of the Ravine. It had been a skilful combination of his Saluvian abilities and manual work with the laser knife. Said knife was now drained of its power and they had to resort to using Xarion's transfigured knives for their cutting needs. Not that he minded. Having lived on Earth for so many years had made him accustomed to the more low tech solutions. Sadly they hadn't had much of a chance to use the stairs since the rain had started.

There was a slight scraping sound behind him. One he quickly identified as footsteps shuffling over the stone and dirt floor. Moments later a mug of steaming hot herbal tea showed up near his shoulder. He glanced up at the person holding it. Ianto. He smiled and gracefully relieved the man of the mug. The young man sat down next to him with a soft grunt of pain. He was still sporting colourful bruises after the events three days ago. His hands had only had the bandages removed yesterday and they were healing up nicely.

"Thanks." He said as Ianto settled and wrapped his own blanket tighter around him self. Ianto nodded and took a sip of his own tea.

"I miss coffee." He sighed, making Jack grin. Jack put his hand on the man's thigh and moved it dangerously close to the man's crotch.

"Is that all you're missing?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and getting the reward he was aiming for, when Ianto rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.

"Trust you to make lewd remarks at a time like this."

"You know me." Jack said with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Yes. I do." Their eyes met and a knowing smile appeared on both their faces. It was an old game between them. The flirting and the pretending to be annoyed. They wouldn't change a thing. They didn't break eye contact until another thunderclap sounded overhead.

"How long do you think it will continue?" Ianto indicated the storm outside. Jack gazed out into the darkness, admiring the many distant lightning bolts criss crossing across the sky. He didn't really have an answer. He shrugged.

"Till it's done." Ianto frowned at him for a moment, before scooting closer and leaning into him. Jack smilingly put his arm around him. Behind them a figure rose and came over to them. Jack looked over his shoulder to see the smaller frame of Warwyn approaching hesitantly. He smiled brightly and flicked his head in a come-on-over gesture. The kid smiled and hurried over to them.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jack asked. It shook its head and carefully sat down next to him. Its wings were bound by bandages and wooden splints, making movement awkward and painful. He wanted to put his arm around it to offer some comfort and affection, but it sat too far out of reach for it to be comfortable. Besides he had his other arm around Ianto. He opted for smiling warmly instead. The kid looked a bit shy, but smiled back.

Jack had been observing how his son and this strange child were interacting. He knew his son was absolutely smitten and he could see why. The child was a delight to be with, was charming and playful, but also gave as good as it got. It wasn't afraid to stand up for itself or to put Orion in his place, if need be. He found that they made a good couple. They were also very cute together. He had seen them cuddling innocently in front of the fire at night and sleeping arm in arm. Orion was fiercely protective, even in his sleep. Ianto had told him how their son had Jumped to Warwyn's location when it broke its wings.

It reminded him how Orion had torn a hole through the fabric of space just to get to Warwyn. Orion had confessed how he had killed an alien in order for him to save his mate. Something that he still had nightmares about, if last nights screams were any indication. Warwyn had been the one to calm Orion down and the youth had soon fallen asleep again. It saddened him to know that their boy had had to go through something like that at such a young age. He wasn't even two years old yet. Jack frowned. How old was Orion now? It was difficult to keep track, especially now when they were so far away from home. He had grown a fair bit while away and had aged as well. If Jack didn't know any better he would have guessed Orion was around sixteen years old. Warwyn he would have placed at thirteen. He sighed, earning him questioning looks from both Ianto and Warwyn.

"I was just thinking of how fast you're all growing." Warwyn made an 'Oh' gesture and returned to staring out into the darkness, while Ianto frowned. This was one the things they deliberately had left unsaid between them. The fact that Ianto would age, grow old and eventually die; while Jack would remain young and go on living. It was always the elephant in the room. They sat uncomfortably for a while, though Warwyn seemed oblivious to it. Then they all heard the sound of whimpering coming from the bed roll where Orion was sleeping. Another nightmare. Warwyn reacted immediately. It rushed over to him and very gently started stroking him in a slow soothing gesture as it hummed a calming tune. He soon settled down again and Warwyn cuddled up to him and soon fell asleep.

xxXxx

Next time Warwyn woke it was to a great silence. Only the soft sound of gentle snoring from the adults could be heard. It stretched out its awareness like Orion had taught it to and found that the storm had finally passed. The water level in the bottom of the Ravine was too high though for them to venture out. But they could go outside on the ledge now and soak up some of the suns warmth. It sighed softly and returned its awareness to its own body. It had gained a slightly altered body shape during the night, as it now had a decidedly male figure. It could feel the stronger muscles under its skin, the narrow hips and broadened chest. It rather liked it.

**lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime**

Then it became aware of something that did not belong to its own body, but rather something of Orion's. They were laying arm in arm; Warwyn was cuddled up against Orion, using him as a pillow and Orion had his arms firmly in place around it. Its wings were spread out behind it, out of harms way. Though it had never encountered such a thing before, Warwyn knew immediately what it was. It blushed and wriggled a little, trying to get free. Orion made a pleasured sound deep in the back of his throat, causing Warwyn to instantly still. It had felt that through the bond. _'Did I cause that?'_ it thought and wriggled again.

This time Orion woke with a start and a gasp of pleasure. Their eyes met. Warwyn bit its lower lip and held its breath, as it moved again. This time slowly and deliberately. Orion groaned and his eyes slid half shut. Encouraged by this Warwyn moved a hand down between them and gingerly touched the hardness it found there. Orion's eyes closed completely, as he struggled to keep from making too loud a sound. The soft caress sent a shockwave of pleasure down their bond, causing both to gasp. Warwyn repeated the caress with the same result. Orion opened his eyes and they gazed deeply into each others eyes. Slowly Orion brought up his hand to grasp Warwyn's neck and pull it into a kiss. At first the kiss was innocent enough, but it soon became heated when Warwyn once again caressed Orion's cock through the cloth of his coveralls. By now Warwyn's own penis had become hard; a most unique experience for the young Micurii'an and a first.

**lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime lime**

Suddenly there was a sound of someone clearing their throat and both adolescents immediately stopped. Both feeling mortified at their actions and the fact that they had both forgotten the others were there. The air was heavy with Micurii'an pheromones. It was no wonder that Orion was enthralled. Warwyn was also in a completely male body now. Xarion chuckled soundlessly at them. Puberty was always an interesting time for their kind to go through and he remembered the early days with his own mate. They had been going at it like rabbits, as the humans would say. It really was a bit of bad luck for the kids to meet their bond mate so soon. It would have been better if it had occurred when they were both adults. Though there was nothing to be done about it. The kids would consummate their bond while they were still so very young. By the looks of things it would be soon, too.

"Best wait until you've both recovered your health and are alone." He told them and again chuckled soundlessly as both turned deeply red with embarrassment. He decided to take pity on them and turned his attention to rekindling the fire and brewing a fresh batch of tea. Behind him the two youths remained as they were, though unmoving. Warwyn hid its face in Orion's embrace, while Orion needed a moment to gather him self. Then the absurdity struck him and he began to laugh softly. Warwyn felt it, as his laughter made its head bounce slightly. Soon it too was giggling and then laughing outright. When the freshly awakened Jack asked why they were laughing they just laughed the harder.

The laughing wasn't good for Orion's stitches though and he gave a small grunt of pain, causing Jack to rush over to him. He told Orion to roll over on his back so he could examine the wounds, but the youth refused, making Warwyn laugh even louder. It of course knew the reason its mate didn't want to roll over had little to do with the pain involved and a whole lot to do with the still hard boner he was sporting. Orion was clinging on to the blanket that had covered the both of them, as Warwyn calmly changed into its neutral gender and effectively doing away with pesky protruding body parts.

Jack glanced at it for a moment, as if only just now noticing the difference. Then his attention was back on his son. _'Why won't the boy let me see? Is he hurt even worse than we thought?'_ he worried. _'And why is Warwyn laughing? Surely it wouldn't laugh if he was seriously hurt?'_ It was a puzzle to him. He reached for the blanket and tried to wrest it out of his son's grip. But the youth clamped down on it even further.

"I'm fine, Daddy. Really I am." He said rather shrilly. Warwyn laughed louder and held its side that had begun to ache.

"Even so, I would still like to check the stitches." He said firmly, getting tired of this nonsense. He made another grab for the blanket and managed to wrest it out of the youth's hands. He barely managed to take in the sight of his son's condition, when Warwyn practically threw it self down across Orion, shielding him from view and shouting:

"Mine!" Jack looked from one to the other feeling completely baffled and put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Shaking his head he got up, figuring that he would have to examine the boy later. When he looked over at the fire he could see Xarion standing there looking completely red faced and almost choking. Jack was just about to ask if the man was alright, when Ianto asked from his bed roll:

"What's going on?"

Xarion burst out laughing. It was a great big hearty laugh and it was impossible to keep a straight face when hearing it. The kids were laughing as well. Jack grinned, still baffled as to what had just happened and said:

"I don't know." The laughter intensified.

xxXxx

That same afternoon they were all sitting outside on the ledge, soaking up the sun's warmth and watching the water swirling by below. It would take a few days for it to recede.

"I wonder what happened to Lartorc's corpse…" Warwyn said to no one in particular. Ianto shrugged.

"Probably eaten by animals and washed away by the river." The others nodded. Warwyn looked thoughtful.

"Do you… do you think that… that it was…" it broke off. Orion put his arm around its waist. Ianto frowned. The two of them seemed to be constantly touching and Orion was paying extra close attention to it. Something more was going on between them, he just knew it.

"Do we think what?" Jack asked. Warwyn sighed. It was difficult for it to speak of this, but Orion kept urging it to share its thoughts and emotions. He wanted it to trust his family.

"Do you think that… maybe… it was my shot that k.k..killed him?" it said with a timid voice. Orion kissed its hair and it leaned into him, seeking comfort.

"We won't ever know." Ianto said carefully. "My shot came right after, but your shot _could_ have been enough to kill him." He looked closely at the adolescent to gauge its reaction. The kid looked down at its hands.

"I wish it had been me." Orion said with a low and angry growl. "I should've bashed his head in when I had the chance." He sounded rather bitter just then. "Then you wouldn't be feeling like this, Zuuva." He added in a whisper. Warwyn looked up at him and gently placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I'm glad you didn't kill him." It whispered back and carefully hugged him. Its wings were making the move a bit cumbersome and painful. It couldn't wait to be rid of the things, so it could move around freely again.

"Personally I don't care who killed him, as long as someone did. He needed to be stopped and that was the only way." Jack proclaimed loudly and there were murmurs of consent.

"I would like to know how he got here." Orion said to a stunned silence. "I mean… he must have arrived here on a ship. No one can Jump from one galaxy to the other." He added.

"You did." Jack teased, but Orion shook his head vehemently.

"No, I didn't Jump. I tore a hole in space and went through. After I had done it and returned to my senses it felt like such a violation of nature. I keep expecting some law enforcement officers to arrest me." Jack sent him a sobering look. He was himself a violation against nature. A fixed point in time.

"So what are you saying? You think there's a ship up there?" Ianto asked, rising to his feet and looking from one to the other.

"Must be, yeah." Orion nodded. Warwyn looked hopeful.

"Can you sense it?" Jack asked, getting up too. If there was a ship up there, maybe they could leave this place. Orion shook his head.

"Out of my range." The youth looked at Xarion, who seemed to withdraw into himself. They all looked at him, not quite daring to hope. It took several minutes of tense silence, before he came to life again. A smile appeared on his face and he opened his eyes slowly. Gazing at each of them in turn, he said:

"I found it. It's a leisure yacht. Small to medium sized. And best of all… it has heat shields." Orion and Ianto didn't understand the significance, but Warwyn and Jack did.

"So it can land on the planet without burning up when going through the atmosphere." Warwyn said to them, beaming. The others smiled brightly back.

"So, we can go home?" Ianto asked, hardly daring to believe it. Jack hugged him and lifted him off his feet, making him shriek a little.

"Yes!" he said and planted a kiss on his Welshman's lips. Warwyn gazed at their antics with bright eyes and turned to look at its mate. He was looking at Xarion.

"Can you Jump that far?" he asked, sounding almost afraid to hear the answer.

"I think so." Xarion nodded.

It was quickly agreed upon that Xarion would make the Jump to the ship and bring it down to land on the plain above them.

xxXxx

They watched in avid excitement as the beautiful yacht glided in for landing on the plain above. The sound was deafening, as it reverberated among the walls of the Ravine and they all breathed a sigh of relief as the engine noise was cut. They looked at each other. They were going home.

But first there was a task yet to be completed. They had to retrieve Rea's body. The yacht was equipped with stasis field generators which would enable them to put her under a field that would preserve her body until it could be buried on Hallow IV. They all agreed that it would be wrong to leave her on this to her foreign world. Jack carefully removed her from the wreckage, wrapped her in a blanket and carried her into the ship for her final journey. Orion broke down sobbing at the sight. Luckily he was immediately embraced by no less than six arms.

They returned to the cave for one final night. The evening meal was solemn, as they reminisced and shared stories about Rea. Warwyn took on the role of caregiver, making sure everyone was feed and comfortable. It held Orion as he wept for his grandmother. It hadn't really known the lady, but it was glad that it could help in this small manner. That night it curled up next to its mate and sang gentle tunes its parents had taught it. Orion still cried himself to sleep.

When dawn broke across the horizon it found the people of the cave getting ready. Jack was cooking breakfast from what remained of the stored meat and roots, while Ianto was checking on Orion's stitches. Xarion was sitting by the fire staring into the flames. Warwyn came over and set about preparing tea for all of them. It had wanted to bring a supply of the plants, so they could make the tea again on Earth, but Jack had refused, saying something about species contamination and the dangers of introducing alien species to an unprepared populace. It didn't quite know what to make of that.

Ianto came over and declared that Orion was healing nicely and that he didn't understand how he had avoided getting the wounds infected. Orion joined them as well, and soon they were eating in silence as the sun rose higher.

xxXxx

Then it was time to leave. They had packed up what remained of the things from the life boat and destroyed the rest. Warwyn brought some of the weaving projects it was most happy with, mostly as a souvenir. Orion brought a couple of teeth taken from the beast that had attacked them. Jack jokingly called them the spoils of the victor. Orion had plans to put them on necklaces. He would keep two, one for himself and one for Warwyn, and then he would give one to David and one to Mica. He couldn't wait to see them again. He wondered how much they had grown… though he knew he would be the one to have grown the most. He always was.

He stood with his arm around his smaller mate, as they watched Xarion lift his parents up onto the plains. When they had disappeared out of sight, he turned to look at the cave that had been their home. It felt strange to leave. Almost wistful. He looked at Warwyn and saw his own emotions reflected there. It too was sad to leave, but he sensed that it was scared as well. It had never been to Earth before. He smiled at it.

"It will be fine." He told it softly. "You'll see." And then he kissed it.

xxXxx

Centuries later an expedition of explorers from the colony cities on the other side of the world would discover a ravine in which could be found a stairway carved into the very cliff face. Scholars and scientists would argue for centuries about the mysterious origin of the stairs. Some would adamantly claim that one of their own kind had some how made it to the ravine and made the stairs, though no citizen had gone missing since Landing. At least they had all been found and none of them had ever made it to this side of the world. Others would claim it was divine providence. Others, that it was a previously unknown and now gone alien civilization. Little credence was given the last theory. The government skilfully hid the findings of what appeared to be the wrecked remains of two individual spacecrafts. Officially the matter remained forever unresolved.


	20. Ch20 Going Home

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Chapter 20 Going home

The yacht turned out to be every bit as luxurious as one would expect of a leisure vessel. It had a large sitting room with soft furniture and dining area, all in bright colours. There were three bedrooms, though Jack insisted on calling those quarters. Each room held a large bed and a built in bookcase. The rooms weren't all that big, but they were very luxurious and the space was well used. There was a bathroom and toilet in the hall. There was also a pleasure room; again Jack's term for it. It contained a Jacuzzi large enough for four people, a minibar and a lounge area. With the push of a button the entire room would be lit from above by a giant solarium, allowing the occupants to work on their tan. The yacht did of course also have more purely functional rooms, such as the engine room and a kitchen.

They put Rea's body in a small, but empty, storage room and activated the room's stasis field. She would be perfectly preserved there until she could be buried on Hallow IV. Jack and Ianto claimed the first bedroom, Xarion the second, which left the room next to the bathroom to Orion and Warwyn.

Warwyn looked around the small bedroom. It had never seen such luxury on a ship before. It was used to old ships and banged up workman's ships, going out to the mining fields or doing the deep space long freighter hauls. None of those were ever leisure full or glamorous. Orion smiled affectionately at it and carefully put an arm around it. It smiled softly back at him, before venturing into the room and putting down the armful of belongings they had brought. It slid a hand along the smooth surface of the cupboard door in the bookcase.

Orion came over and put his arms around its waist from behind, being careful of the wings, and it leaned into his embrace. He bent slightly and placed a kiss on its cheek and it turned within his arms to face him.

"This is nice." It said.

"Which part? The room or the hug?" Orion said with a smile and hugged it slightly tighter. Warwyn smiled mischievously.

"Both." Orion grinned, so like his father, and kissed it. Their bond flared alive and both their heart rates picked up the pace. Finally they broke the kiss and came up for air. Orion put his forehead against Warwyn's as they gasped, trying to regain control. The intensity of their touches and kisses were increasing with each passing day. They both knew it was only a matter of time before there would be no turning back. It was a bit daunting, for both of them. They were both injured and Warwyn in particular was very young. It was difficult enough going through puberty without having the mating dynamics playing into it as well. They could both sense the pheromones flooding the room and the resulting physical response in Orion and by extension in Warwyn. It was like a chain reaction between them. Warwyn's pheromones would excite Orion, who in return would send his own pheromones back. His reaction would be felt through the bond, thus increasing Warwyn's response and adding more pheromones. Warwyn let out a small whimper and kissed Orion again.

"Orion, Warwyn, have either of you seen…" Ianto stopped dead in his tracks as he stood in the door way to the kids' room. They were locked in a searing kiss and completely oblivious to his presence. After taking a moment to recover his senses, he tried again.

"Hrmph hmmm." He cleared his throat loudly. No response.

"Orion! Warwyn!" Still no reaction. On the contrary, their kissing seemed to get more heated and he was sure he just saw Warwyn groping Orion's arse. His eyes widened and he would have spluttered, had he had a chance to. Instead he found himself being gently pulled away from door way, as Xarion softly closed the door on the kids.

"Leave them be. It is only natural." He said. Ianto stared at him. "They will consummate the bond soon. That is the way it is supposed to be. There is no way and no reason for you to prevent it." Ianto stared at him still.

"But they are children!" he finally managed to splutter.

"Orion is almost a man already and Warwyn will become an adult soon enough." Xarion smiled wistfully. "Children grow up, Ianto. With our kind it happens faster than yours. You cannot hold back nature. I know it's difficult, but soon you will have to let Orion go." Inside Ianto's heart skipped a beat in fear and pain. The thought of his little boy leaving home was just too painful to contemplate.

"But we only just got him back." He whispered, without realising he had spoken aloud. Xarion heard him though. He sent him a sympathetic smile.

"I know." Ianto looked at the closed door to the kids' room, imagining what might be taking place in there. A part of him was happy that his son had met his mate and they were happy together. But another part of him wanted to keep his son as a little boy, who would cuddle up to them on the sofa, who would ask a million questions and who would chase after weevils that had hurt his Daddy. He knew it was inevitable. Children grow up. But oh, how he wished they would have had more time together. Orion had been ill for a long time and he had been missing in action for even longer. He had been so changed when they found him again. He was so much older and responsible now. It just seemed like they had missed out on so much.

"If it is any consolation to you, I know exactly how you feel." Ianto snapped his head up to look at him. Xarion smiled with a peculiar look in his eyes. "My bondmate and I have three children. All of them have grown and left home. Our second born got sick and was hospitalised for half her childhood. We had only just gotten her home, when she decided to leave for special schooling on the other side of the world. It was there that she met her mate. Soon after they were bonded and she never returned home other than to visit." His voice was full of a soft longing that made Ianto look at him more closely.

"How did you cope?" he asked. He was surprised, since he had never heard mention of Xarion's home life and the man seemed quite young. But then again, he thought, he himself was too young to have an adolescent son. That wacky way Saluvians grew older could make any one crazy. Xarion smiled.

"We had another child, a boy. He still lives at home, even though he's grown up now. He goes to school nearby. My bondmate is expecting a fourth child right now." The man's pride was obvious and made Ianto smile.

"Congratulations." Xarion beamed at him.

"Thanks."

"Hmm, somehow I don't think that would be an option for us, though. I can't see Jack agreeing to that." Ianto said, only half joking. Xarion nodded.

"What am I not agreeing to?" Jack asked, walking down the hall toward them with a big smile on his face. Ianto blushed a little and cursed himself for doing so.

"I suggested you have another child after Orion leaves home." Xarion said matter of factly. Jack's expression was priceless.

"Wha… wh… ! well… wh… why?" he managed. Even Ianto felt the sides of his mouth curl up in a grin at the man's flustered expression.

"Well, you _are_ getting married, are you not?" Xarion asked teasingly.

"Well, yes. But…"

"Then what's the problem?" Jack opened and closed his mouth without sound coming out. "As I understand it, you Jack are a carrier and therefore able to conceive and carry a child to term. And there is also the option of adoption. You could also find a female donor and surrogate among our people. So it is not as if you do not have the options."

"Yes, but…" Jack looked from Xarion to Ianto a few times. Finally settling on Ianto. "Ianto, I…" Ianto smiled at him. It wasn't as if he wanted more children. At least not right now. Maybe in some years down the line, they could think about it. Torchwood didn't leave much room to raise a family and certainly wasn't any place for a child. They had gotten lucky with Orion. If he had been fully human they wouldn't have been able to cope.

"It's okay, cariad. We're fine as we are." Jack breathed a sigh of relief and broke into huge grin.

"Thank goodness. You had me frightened there for a moment." Ianto rolled his eyes good-naturedly, knowing it was expected of him.

"Come on, let's find the kitchen and see if there is some coffee there."

xxXxx

The journey to Hallow IV was generally a pleasant one. After the talk with Xarion, Ianto began to relax a little around the kids. He was still a little uncomfortable with them displaying their obvious affection for each other, but he knew better than to interfere with it. He had confided in Jack as to why he felt that way and Jack had been very understanding because of it. He too felt sad about Orion growing up, but felt confident it wouldn't mean estrangement with them. As he told Ianto, Orion was too attached to the both of them and the others back home to just abandon them. He also didn't have a problem with the growing sexuality the kids displayed. But that hardly came as a surprise, Jack being Jack after all.

Jack took it upon himself to have a much overdue conversation with his son – and his mate. He found Orion and Warwyn in the living room, playing a game on a console they had scrounged up from somewhere. They had been complete embarrassed and red faced when he had talked to them about sex, recounting several of the more interesting experiences of his own, including the one with the three Barollian females and their tentacles. In the end Orion had cut him off and quite pointedly told his Daddy, that one didn't sleep in the room next to his parents and have Owen as a bonus uncle - and not learn a thing or two about sex. Then Warwyn had followed the statement by reminding Jack that they both had the ability to absorb the information they needed and sex was a natural part of that. Thus reassured Jack left them to do as they pleased and went in search of his own mate.

He found Ianto in the pleasure room, soaking in the Jacuzzi with the solarium light on. He smiled. The young Welshman was naked, glistening with suntan oil and gorgeous, as he sat with his eyes closed, his head leaning back and his arms spread out along the edge of the Jacuzzi. He quickly walked over and kneeled down beside him. The man slowly opened his eyes and a soft smile spread on his face as he saw his fiancée. Jack swooped in and kissed him with a passion. Ianto startled a bit, but soon joined in. One of them opened their mouth and soon their tongues were battling for dominance. A wet arm moved up to grope Jack's back, making his shirt wet. He never noticed, as he was too busy groping the wet body back and putting his sleeve covered arm in the water. Moments later he found himself being pulled into the warm water, the spray splashing all over the floor.

He laughed loudly and kissed his Ianto with fervour. He hurriedly unzipped his coverall and with Ianto's help got it peeled off. It landed with a wet squelch on the floor somewhere. His underwear, shoes and socks soon followed. One of his shoes landed in an empty punch bowl and the other on a sunpad. As soon as he was naked Ianto began groping every available part of him. He broke the kiss to attack Ianto's neck and earlobe. Ianto moaned deeply. Jack knew every centimetre of him and knew precisely how to make the man turn to jelly.

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><p><strong>Lemon removed due to the sites censorship on any stories containing adult themes written by adults for adults. <strong>

**You can find the uncensored chapter on my private homepage: www. freec . dk / 2910leiv (just remove the spaces). I publish all my stories there and you can subscribe to a newsletter that I will send out each time I update a story.**

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><p>Gradually they returned to their senses and Jack slid out, making Ianto moan. He sat him self down next to him and Ianto cuddled up to him, leaning his head on his shoulder.<p>

"I've missed this." Ianto muttered and stifled a yawn. Jack kissed him on the hair and smiled.

"Me too." They sat together for a long while, enjoying the company and the afterglow. In the end they had to get out and get cleaned up. It was almost time for dinner.

xxXxx

It took only a few days for them reach Hallow IV. Xarion had insisted they only made a few Jumps a day, since the humans were not used to it and the kids were injured. Prolonging the journey would give them all time to adjust to what lay ahead.

Xarion was in the pilot seat, communicating with the outpost at the edge of the system. They needed clearance to enter the system or they would be shot down. He was rather hard pressed, trying to get through the commandant's stubborn refusal. It turned out their leisure yacht wasn't Lartorc's but one he had stolen from a prominent dignitary and said person was demanding that they be thrown in jail for the theft. In the end Xarion had to use the clout of the Fourth House to be allowed entry into the system. A representative from the Fourth House and a squad of guards would meet them at the space port.

They were all clustered into the small control room, so they could stare out of the window and see the planet. It looked very much like Earth, all blue and green and beautiful. When they broke through the atmosphere and approached the sacred city of Travesty, they understood Rea's awestruck fascination with it. The place was spectacular and breathtakingly beautiful. It had the elegance and clean design of the Egyptian temples and the grandeur of ancient Rome, but combined with a love and respect for nature that was uniquely Saluvian/Micurii'an.

When they landed and stepped onto the tarmac, both Orion and Warwyn gasped and fell to their knees. The adults rushed to help them. They too could feel something, a presence, like a powerful being all around them. The children being more sensitive to it were feeling quite overwhelmed. Xarion immediately guided them in how to overcome the feeling through breathing exercises. He reminded them, that the planet was alive and well tended to and that was why it had such a strong presence.

Ianto was kneeling by Warwyn's side, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. He looked up and saw the promised delegation standing there observing them quietly, as if this was an every day occurrence. Maybe it _was_ Ianto mused. They had people arriving every day from all over. Surely there were other sensitives among them. He alerted the others to their presence, and Xarion stood and greeted them in the local language. Ianto got the feeling it was a very formal, some what stuffy greeting. There was something about the delegate's facial expression that he didn't like. The man looked like he had swallowed a lemon. Xarion turned to them.

"This is Master Junai of the Fourth House. He worked closely with Rea." The man, Junai, frowned disapprovingly when hearing her name spoken without the proper title in front of it. "Master, this is Mistress Rea's family: her grandson Orion, his mate Warwyn, Orion's fathers Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones." The man jerked a little upon hearing Orion's name, but was otherwise unmoved. Until:

"Orion?" he asked. Orion looked at him more closely and nodded. Warwyn held his hand and looked at the strange man with some apprehension. "I wish to offer my condolences. Your grandmother was a dear friend and a valued colleague of mine. She will be missed." Orion nodded solemnly, his eyes tearing up. Warwyn squeezed his hand in comfort and sent consolation along their bond. To the other's Junai said:

"I understand you caught the man who did it?"

Xarion bowed. "It was Ianto and Warwyn who finished him off, after Orion fought him to the brink of death." The man looked at them. A sharp considering look appeared in his eyes.

"I shall look forward to hearing the full story. For now, we shall make arrangements for the funeral and have the family summoned." Xarion nodded. "You will be given guest rooms at the Fourth House. I expect you, Xarion, will wish to return to your mate? She is most anxious to see you." This time the man actually smiled for the first time.

"Yes Master. I would." Xarion seemed understandably pleased at the prospect of seeing his pregnant mate again soon.

"If you would show the guards to Mistress Rea's body?"

"Of course, Master." He bowed deeply and waved for the guards to follow him back on board the ship.

"If you'll follow me?" Master Junai said to the humans and the two youths.

xxXxx

They stayed on Hallow IV for eight days. The funeral was held on the sixth day, at what was apparently a family plot on the hill top funeral grounds high above the city. Her body was laid to rest on a funeral pyre and when the sun sank down over the horizon the pyre was lit. The fire could be seen all over the city. A single drum beat a steady tune as the watched the fire burn throughout the night. Hundreds of people had come to watch and pay their respects. As dawn came and fire reduced to low smouldering embers, the drum beat suddenly stopped. The sound of the sudden silence was so eerie that it brought Goosebumps on their skin.

Then a hauntingly beautiful voice sounded strong and clear. It was a woman's voice, thought it took a while to spot were she was standing next to the drum. She sang the first half of the traditional mourner's song alone; then the rest of the people joined her on the chorus. Again the human visitors got Goosebumps. It was very moving, and yet very dignified. It allowed people to cry openly without shame or ridicule. When the fire had completely died the ashes were gathered in a ceremonial bowl. A person in ceremonial robes took it and walked to each of the family members in turn. Each person took a handful of the ashes and went to the promontory on the hill and scattered the ashes before the wind. Orion didn't hesitate when it was his turn. He held Warwyn's hand as they both took a handful and together sent Rea's remains back into nature.

xxXxx

During their stay Xarion had made them sleep each night under a healing field. A group of healers from the First House, also known as the House of compassion, had stayed with them in their room and formed a healing circle while they slept. As a result they were now both healed of their injuries. Warwyn had finally been able to loose the wings, a fact that was announced to the world, when it flopped down with a loud "Aaaaaahhhhh!" on its back for the first time since that fatal flight.

They had spent their days sightseeing and meeting family members. Orion finally got to meet his remaining siblings. He had two sisters and a brother. They were all older than him, though the youngest sister had only just turned an adult and had yet to find her mate. The other two had mates and children of their own. His sister had a son and his brother had a son and a daughter. He was very pleased to learn that he had a growing family and that they wanted to get to know him better. They also got to meet Xarion's family. Ianto in particular had an instant rapport with Maral, Xarion's mate. She was a young and very friendly person; the kind that everybody instantly likes and gets along with. It was impossible to be angry or sad when in her presence, because she would create such a jolly atmosphere.

They were sad to leave all of their new acquaintances behind, but they had been away from home for too long. Earth was calling to them.

So it was with great joy that they hitched a ride on a Saluvian ship going to Earth to bring supplies and fresh crew to the frigate in orbit out by Jupiter. Once there the ships captain organised a piloted shuttle to bring them to Earth and home to Cardiff.

When they approached Mars Jack used the communications system to call the Hub. To say that Toshiko was ecstatic to hear from them would be an understatement. Their ears were still ringing from her loud scream when they approached the Moon. The cloaking device was active, so they couldn't be detected by anyone on the Earth. Once again they gathered around the windows to see the world they loved so much. Orion hugged Warwyn with one arm, infecting Warwyn with his excitement. It too couldn't wait to go to home.

They landed on a field near West Hill Wood where the SUV was waiting to pick them up. Gwen was sitting in the driver's seat with her feet dangling out of the open door. She had heard the engine noise, but hadn't been able to see the shuttle due to the camouflage. So she was scanning the field with her eyes, waiting to see anything out of the ordinary. There was a gust of wind and the dirt was blown up in a huge dust cloud some two hundred meters away. Then the sound disappeared. In the distance she could see a door opening floating in the middle of nothing and out stepped a very familiar figure in a greatcoat. She hopped out of the SUV, waved in their direction and pressed the comm.

"The eagle has landed."


	21. Ch21 A consummate relationship

**Thank you to everyone reading this story. I am very happy that you're sticking with it. A special thank you to PCJanto and Badly-knitted for reviewing. You make my day.**

Chapter 21 A consummate relationship

"Rhi… Rhiannon… Rhi, let the boy breathe. Seriously, let him go. He's turning blue." Johnny was saying to his wife, growing steadily more concerned as the boy's colouration turned decidedly bluer. In the end he had to wrestle the youth free of her fierce embrace. The boy sent him a silent thank you as he took in a huge gulp of air. Rhiannon wiped the tears out of her eyes and gripped the boy's shoulder, as if she couldn't bear to be separated from him again.

"Don… don't you EVER disappear like that again! You hear me, Orion Harkness-Jones?" She almost yelled at him and Orion sent her a big, charming smile, before throwing himself back into her arms and saying:

"I won't, aunt Rhi. I promise." She sniffled and moved him back, holding him out at arms length and attempted a stern glare at him. It was marred though by the happy glint in her eyes and the affectionate smile.

"See that you don't." She looked at Warwyn hanging back, observing them shyly. "Now, who's your friend?" Orion turned to look at Warwyn with a huge smile. He held out his hand, waiting for Warwyn to grab it. With only a slight hesitation, Warwyn stepped forward and took it. It was improving, getting over its shyness with every person Orion introduced it too. Staying on Hallow IV certainly had helped with that. But still. This was different. This was Orion's closest family, the people he grew up with. It wanted to make a good impression and not screw up with them. It was shaking a little with nervousness. That woman was intimidating. She loved her family and would crush anyone who hurt them. Then its eyes made contact with Orion's and a wonderful calm spread in its body. Orion was smiling at it, gazing at it with such love and pride in his eyes that Warwyn couldn't help but smile back.

"This is Warwyn, Warwyn Saiyaela." Orion said, still looking at Warwyn and wrapped his arm around its waist. "My mate." Both Rhiannon and Johnny startled upon hearing that.

"I'm pleased to meet you." Warwyn said, holding out its hand like it had been taught. No one took its hand to shake it though and it hesitantly withdrew its hand, glancing uncertainly at Orion.

"Your… your…" Rhiannon was astonished and couldn't seem to understand the reality of that statement.

"Mate. My MATE." Orion said, his voice getting a sharp edge now. He didn't appreciate how his relatives were treating his mate, ignoring it as if it didn't matter. Johnny blinked a few times and sort of shook his head, snapping out of his stunned surprise. He looked at the young … _ehm… Boy? Girl? Youth_ … standing there, leaning into Orion seeking comfort from him. It looked so young and scared and Orion looked increasingly angry. He cleared his throat and put out his large calloused hand to the kid. It looked at him uncertainly, blinking those unusual amethyst eyes up at him and he felt himself go soft inside. The kid took his hand and he shook it.

"Welcome Warwyn. I hope you'll be very happy here." _With our Orion_, he added mentally. You've would have to be blind not to notice the love between the kids. The pride Orion had in showing off his mate and the love in his eyes when he looked at Warwyn. It was meant to be and _who was he to stand in their way?_ The moment he had laid eyes on Orion again he could see the difference. He had grown so much. He was taller, older and more importantly more mature. He had almost grown up while away. He glanced at his wife, knowing she would not be able to see the difference. She would still see the little boy who had played on her lap.

Rhiannon and Orion were locked in a staring contest. She still had made no move toward greeting Warwyn, who was glancing from one to the other apprehensively.

"Do you have a problem with my mate?" Orion challenged her with a deep growl. Warwyn gasped in equal parts fear and pleasure. Fear because it didn't want him to fight his family, but also pleasure that its mate _would_ fight for it. It flung its arms around Orion's chest from behind, pinning his arms to his sides. The gesture seemed to finally hit home with Rhiannon, as she saw the young person physically restraining her nephew and he was still growling at her. Orion was poised in a tense stance, ready to attack. She swallowed and flicked a glance at Warwyn. Very hesitantly, not wanting to provoke her nephew, she looked right at Warwyn and said:

"Hello Warwyn. I'm pleased to meet you." It looked at her from over Orion's shoulder.

"And I you." It said without hesitation.

Orion growled again, still not appeased. He had been getting feral episodes since leaving their Ravine. All the strangers around his mate, who he had yet to consummate his bond with, were putting a strain on him. His instincts were screaming at him to protect his mate, both from danger and from being stolen away by competition. Even though they had been bonded since Warwyn's birth it did not prevent others to move in and try to steal his submissive from him. As long as the bond was unconsummated it could be broken and the stolen partner could be wooed and convinced to bond with someone else. As a direct result most dominants were rather paranoid about their submissives – and the reverse could also be true – especially in the time from their first meeting to the consummation. That of course was normally a rather short time span, but because Orion and Warwyn had met at such an early age, the period was longer. The longer time they spent together without consummating their bond, the more frequent the feral episodes would get. And it wouldn't just be Orion who would go through them, but Warwyn as well, only its episodes would tend to be fixated on keeping Orion's attention.

"Stop it." Warwyn said and nuzzled Orion's neck. He broke of in mid growl and rubbed his head against Warwyn's, affectionately. A small smile spread across his features and their bond hummed contentedly.

"Maybe we should move this into the living room?" Johnny said, his tone of voice brooking no protests. He grabbed Rhiannon by the elbow and steered her out of the hall. Orion and Warwyn stayed in the hall, just hugging each other. The meeting had not gone the way any of them had wanted.

In the living room they could hear Johnny and Rhiannon arguing.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Johnny was furious. His wife could really be cruel sometimes.

"What's wrong with _me_? What's wrong with _you_? Have you forgotten what that person did to Orion? How it almost killed him? How it rejected him?" she spat back at him.

"No, I haven't forgotten. But if Orion can forgive it, then so should we!"

"Are you mad?" she shrieked.

"Fucking hell, Rhi! Can't you see how happy the boy is? No, you listen to me for once," he added as she was about to interrupt. "The only thing you'll achieve by this grudge, is driving the kid away. 'Cause believe me, he won't be picking us. He will choose his mate and rightly so. I won't let you, you hear? I won't let you drive the kid off. We only just got him back."

Out in the hall the two youths in question held each other for comfort. Orion was shaking with anger and he wanted to storm in there and tear his aunt apart for hurting his mate. Warwyn was clinging onto him so tightly, that it was almost painful. It was shaking and he could feel its storm of emotions through their bond.

"Maybe… Maybe I should just go… leave you alone with your family." It said a bit louder than it had intended. Orion growled loudly and held on tighter. Warwyn squeaked a little in discomfort, but made no move to leave. Someone rushed to the doorway from the other room.

"No! No, please stay." It was Rhiannon. She stood in the doorway looking shaken. "Please." She sighed and took a step toward them. Orion's low growl made her stop. "I'm sorry. I'm being foolish. I…" her voice broke. This was exceedingly hard for her. She was never very good with apologies; her pride usually got in the way. She looked at Warwyn beseechingly. "Warwyn, I'm truly sorry for behaving that way toward you. I hope you'll give me a chance to make it up to you and I would really like to get to know you." Warwyn looked her in the eyes. She was sincere. It nodded.

"I'd like that." It sent a calming pulse through their bond and Orion responded by releasing it. He was still staring at his aunt.

"Orion, I'm sorry. I…" she said.

"Hurt my mate again and you will have to deal with me. Understood?" he told her. It was clear there would be no discussion. He was dictating the terms of their future relationship and Johnny felt a renewed respect for the kid. Not many could intimidate Rhiannon and live to tell the tale.

"Yes, I understand." She looked at Warwyn. "But if Warwyn ever hurts you, it will have to answer to me." Warwyn swallowed and nodded.

"Agreed." Orion said. Then Rhiannon surprised the both of them by gathering them both in a bear hug.

"And if Orion ever hurts you, Warwyn, come to me and I'll set him straight." She said, making Orion laugh. His good-natured humour trickled down the bond and made Warwyn sigh with relief. The tension had disappeared, like dew before the sun and it found it rather liked being hugged by this woman. It was almost like having a mother again. It shook off the sad thought, even as Orion glanced at it questioningly. It sent him a smile and he let it go, though he wasn't fooled for a second. Rhiannon let go of them and held them out at arms length.

"Oh, just look at you. You've grown so much! And what a gorgeous tan you have, both of you." She patted Warwyn on the hair. "Why you're almost a man now. Much too grown up for my ice cream pancakes." Orion made a slight whimpering sound and Warwyn had to smile. "Oh very well," Rhi said with the air of giving in to incessant begging. "Get in the kitchen." As they walked there Johnny grabbed his wife by the waist and planted a solid kiss on her lips.

xxXxx

A few hours later found them still in Rhiannon's kitchen. They had eaten the pancakes and drunk tea as they shared the stories of all that had happened since Orion left so unorthodoxly. Both Rhiannon and Johnny had listened with rapt attention and had been very moved by the tale. Both expressed pleasure at the fact that Lartorc at last was dead and sadness that Rea was as well. Rhiannon was particularly interested in hearing how the kids had survived on their own. Warwyn confessed that it missed weaving baskets and such and that it found it very soothing. Rhiannon wowed she would teach it all she knew about arts and crafts, which was quite a bit. At one point she had supplemented their meagre earnings by selling her crafts. That was of course before Jack got her the job in the tourist office.

Suddenly there was a sound of the front door being opened and slammed shut and a herd of elephants stomping in. Then:

"Mum, we're home." David yelled.

"Why does the house smell of pancakes?" Mica asked with her higher voice.

"There's a surprise for you in the kitchen." Rhiannon yelled back at them. They could hear the kids stomping toward them. Then the door opened.

"Orion!" Moments later Orion was barrelled over by two rambunctious children. He laughed heartily as they hugged him and bombarded him with questions of where he had been and what had happened to him. Once again he launched into a telling of the story, only this time it was decidedly child friendly. When he got to the part of the story where he had found his mate, he moved over to Warwyn and put his arm around it. Mica's eyes widened and David asked him impatiently to tell what had happened next. As he concluded the story with them arriving back on Earth both children were excited. David couldn't get enough of the adventure parts and Mica was sending Warwyn curious glances. In the end curiosity got the better of her.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" she asked, never one to beat around the bush.

"Mica!" her father admonished. Warwyn just smiled. It was clear that Mica was very young and it had no problem with answering.

"I'm neither. My people don't have genders. At least not until they grow up and even then they can change it." Mica's eyes were the size of saucers.

"How can you not have a gender?" David asked, always the sceptic. Warwyn smiled at him.

"How can you _have_ a gender?" The boy looked at it, as if he had never heard of something like that and had never considered how it would be to see things from a completely opposite perspective.

"Can you become an animal, like Orion?" Mica asked with an air of being impressed but not wanting to show it. Orion put his arm around her and smiled. Warwyn glanced at him, to see if it was alright and sensing no objections, it changed into a dog similar to the one it had seen the night before. A Rottweiler. Mica shrieked in delight and clapped her hands. David wanted to do the same, but with him being older and a boy, he had to restrain himself. He did tell them "Cool!" though.

"So Warwyn, do you know what gender you'll end up being?" Rhiannon asked later, when things had quieted down a little. Orion was busy explaining about some computer game he had learned on the way from the planet to Hallow IV to David and Mica was listening intently to Warwyn and her mother. The girl had widened her adoration of Orion to include Warwyn. Johnny had joked privately with Rhiannon that their daughter would be a fanatic fangirl when she grew older. Certainly her hero worship of Orion knew no bounds.

"I'm not sure, Rhi." Warwyn answered. "It's still too soon to tell."

"You don't have any clues? No inclinations?" Warwyn shook its head.

"No, ma'am."

"Seems so odd… not having a gender and not knowing what you'll end up becoming." She said. Warwyn shrugged a shoulder. It wasn't like it had ever known any different.

"Still I'm sure Orion will fancy you no matter what gender you are." She patted it on the arm in reassurance. Warwyn blushed a deep red.

xxXxx

Two weeks later they had settled into a new routine in the Hub. It had been a bit difficult at first. Meeting all those new people – and Myfanwy. She had been something in a league of her own. When she had spotted Orion she had flown down and hissed at him - challenging him to a fight. Apparently she was angry at him for abandoning her. In the end he had had to assume his dragon form and fight her and force her into submission. After that she had behaved towards him, even though she still held a slight grudge. When Warwyn had been introduced, she had made another fuss, causing Orion to reinforce his dominance over her. She had sniffed at Warwyn and smelling Orion's scent all over it, had huffed and backed away. She hadn't tried anything after that.

The rest of the people, Gwen, Toshiko and Owen, were less troublesome. At least outwardly. Owen had pulled Warwyn aside at one point, and warned it to never hurt Orion again, but that was the extent of it. They had accepted Warwyn into their midst with little difficulty and it had soon been included in the daily goings-on. It was clear they loved Orion, each in their own way and wanted only the best for him.

Classes with Xarion had started up again, this time for the both of them. But it was only for a little while. Soon his new baby would be born and he would be too busy to travel to Earth every day. There had been talk about getting a new teacher to come instead, but no decision had been made yet. They also helped out in the Hub and in the tourist office. Warwyn had already proven invaluable in its knowledge of alien technologies, courtesy of its parents. Toshiko had been ecstatic when she learned of Warwyn's background and soon the two of them were holed up in the meeting room with bits and pieces of tech strewn across the table. Orion had exhibited symptoms of jealousy and Owen had put his arm around him and joked that their girls were shacking up together. Orion had stalked in there and physically dragged Warwyn out of there and down to their room. Owen later apologised and they were all wary of Orion's bouts of feral possessiveness after that.

On this particular day Orion was up in the tourist office, while Warwyn was assisting Toshiko with yet another piece of tech. It was similar to a Califraxian power conversion unit or a Macarian Hyper spool, but still different. It was a puzzle and they had been at it for hours. Toshiko had noticed that Warwyn was behaving slightly odd. Every now and again it would rub its hands all over it self, as if it was uncomfortable in its own skin. She thought nothing of it, when it removed its sweatshirt and was left in a t-shirt it obviously had borrowed from Orion.

"Warwyn, would you…" she broke off as she saw the youth in the process of stripping naked, while clawing its hands all over its body. "What are you doing?" she said loudly. Warwyn groaned painfully and mumbled:

"Hurts." It raked its fingers along its arms, leaving bloody streaks behind. Toshiko grabbed its wrists and it squirmed, as if in pain.

"Stop that." She told it. "Owen!" she yelled. "Owen, get in here!" she heard a metal clang and thought maybe he had dropped the tray again. He did that sometimes, she had noticed. Moments later she heard him thundering up the stairs and the door flew open.

"What's going on?" his eyes widened at the sight of a very naked Warwyn trying to wrestle free of Toshiko's grasp. His eyes immediately flickered toward the door. She knew what he was thinking. Orion would kill them if he saw this.

"Something's wrong with Warwyn." She said. He responded instantly.

"Warwyn? Can you tell me what's wrong?" he put a hand on its forehead to check if it was hot.

"Hurts." It squirmed and tried to pull out of Toshiko's grasp again. But she held firm, not wanting it to scratch itself any further. It whimpered loudly.

"Where does it hurt?" Owen asked patiently. Warwyn whimpered again, almost keening.

"Hurts!" it said more insistently. "Let me go." It begged.

"No, tell us where it hurts. Is it your arms?" Owen looked at the scratches on the arms. They were shallow and wouldn't scar, but they would need to be cleaned up to avoid infection.

"No… let me go!" Warwyn's struggles against them were increasing. When they didn't release it, it sent out a high pitched keening sound. Both Owen and Toshiko covered their ears at the painful noise. Then it stopped. They both gasped in relief, but then they saw the reason. Orion had arrived and he was not looking happy.

Orion growled at them both and they hurriedly backed away, putting a few steps distance between them. Orion continued to glare at them as he knelt by his mate and gathered it into his arms. It squirmed and writhed and made a pitiful keening sound. Then Orion focused entirely on it, rocking it soothingly like you would comfort a child.

"Hurts." It cried.

"Shhhh, it's okay. Just change." Owen and Toshiko shared a look. _Change?_

"I... I can't." it whimpered.

"Yes, you can." It cried a little more and hid its face in his chest.

"I can't." it whined. Orion grabbed its chin with one hand, firmly but gently.

"Yes you can, Zuuva. Now change." It was an order, given without the option to refuse. It was the first time Orion had ever used the rank on Warwyn. Until then the word Zuuva had been a nickname, a term of affection. But now it became something more. It became a display of dominance. It squirmed. There could be no denying its mate. He wanted it to change, so it would. What it could not do for it self, it would do for him. It closed its eyes and allowed the change to occur. Slowly it felt its body change. Hips widened slightly, chest broadened a little, both a penis and a vagina formed. When the change was complete the pain was gone as well. It gasped a few times. Slowly it became aware of lying naked on the floor in Orion's arms. Its eyes fluttered open and its gaze met Orion's. He glanced fleetingly down its body and then looked back into its eyes.

"You're beautiful." His voice was so tender and so loving, it made Warwyn choke. A small patch of red spread across its cheeks as it smiled back at him. Orion caressed its hair and looked down its body again.

"Kiss me?" it asked. Orion smiled softly and complied.

xxXxx

Fifteen minutes later found Warwyn dressed in a hospital gown undergoing a physical. Owen was currently scowling at Orion who was watching him like a hawk and ready to pounce if Owen made a wrong move. His feral possessiveness was running rampant now that Warwyn finally had settled on a gender. Or rather genders. The youth was now a hermaphrodite. S/he was a mixture of both genders and when looking at him/her, it was difficult to tell if one was looking at a girl or a boy. The hair style and the clothes would be the best give away and still it would get confusing.

Warwyn's brown hair remained the same: shoulder length and gathered in a pony tail at the nape of the neck. A very unisex style. The androgynous body was caught sort of half way between the hard muscular lines of the males and the round, soft lines of the females. It didn't have breasts, but as it said:

"I can be anything Orion wants me to be." Owen had nearly choked upon hearing that and Orion had growled ferociously and told him to not get any ideas. Warwyn had just sat still and sent a flirtatious smile at Orion. Toshiko was hard pressed to refrain from laughing loudly at that. _Oh, Orion would have his hands full with a mate like that, _she was sure. Owen continued with his pocking and prodding.

"Hmm, I'm not sure, but I think you have a uterus. I would have to give you a gynaecological examination to be sure though."

"That will not be necessary!" Orion growled and only just managed to restrain himself from attacking the doctor. Warwyn was his and his alone – and no one else would look closely at his mate's genetalia if _he_ could help it. "Warwyn is a carrier." Owen frowned at the term. Being a carrier in human terms meant something entirely different that it did to Saluvians and Micurii'ans.

"How can you tell?" he asked sourly.

"I can smell it." Warwyn had been looking from one to the other, but stayed looking at Orion after that. S/he sniffed the air. S/he could tell that his/her scent was different and could also tell that Orion was sending out a different scent than normal. S/he sniffed again, leaning closer toward him. The scent was enticing.

"You smell different." It said alluringly. Orion looked at it and smiled.

"Pheromones." He said, as Owen was staring at them.

"Of course!" he burst out, startling the two youths and prompting Orion to grab him by the front of his coat and bodily lift him of the ground and slam him against the railing of the stairs. Orion snarled loudly, as Owen grabbed his wrists and tried to get free.

"Oi, I'm only trying to help!" he screamed.

"Orion! Put him down!" Toshiko screamed and was joined moments later by Jack, who had only just returned.

"Orion, put him down NOW!" Jack ordered. Orion didn't bat an eyelash. Ianto came running up to Jack and Toshiko, having been busy parking the SUV. Gwen was behind him over by the workstations, setting down her bag.

"Orion!" Ianto shouted. No response. Then Warwyn daintily hopped off the examination table and moved over to stand behind Orion. S/he plastered his/her body against Orion's back and put his/her arms around his waist.

"Please put him down, Ziwa." s/he breathed into his ear and kissed his cheek. Orion growled another warning at Owen and complied.

Warwyn kissed his cheek again and backed away, pulling on Orion's hand. Orion allowed the manipulation and followed quietly. Once on the far side of the medical bay he stopped and with a swift move claimed the lips of his mate. The kiss was fierce and demanding. He was staking his claim, showing Owen what was his. In the background they could hear Jack demanding to know what was going on. Explanations were offered, but the two youths ignored them in favour of a heated make out session in front of every one – something they would later be quite embarrassed about. In the end it was Ianto, off all people, who sighing resignedly, told them to go have sex already so things could go back to normal around the place. They broke away from each other panting, as they heard Jack telling Toshiko to vent the place.

"There's enough pheromones floating around here, it's a wonder we're not all fucking like rabbits."

Oddly enough Cardiff would experience an unusual spike in the birth rates nine months later, seeing as an extraordinarily high number of children had been conceived around the same time. The scientists had been unable to pin a cause to the sudden urge to reproduce, but Jack quietly felt guilty, assuming he knew the reason was Torchwood and a certain pair of hormonal youngsters.

xxXxx

The kids had been driving the adults up the wall during the next five days. Warwyn would try to seduce Orion, flooding the air with pheromones and Orion would try to comply, but was rebuffed each time. Exasperatedly Jack and Ianto had begged Xarion to come and do something about the madness, but the man had just laughed and told them that it was a natural thing and wouldn't last long.

This afternoon Warwyn was feeling particularly warm and was soon shedding the outer layer of clothing, until s/he was only dressed in a pair of boxers borrowed from Orion. S/he grabbed an empty pizza box from the coffee table and started fanning him/her self with it. The adults were staring at nim/her in concern, no doubt remembering what happened last time s/he stripped in the middle of the Hub. Gwen came over with a frown on her forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"It's hot in here." Warwyn said fanning him/her self even more.

"What? No it isn't." Gwen pulled her jacket a little tighter. It was actually rather chilly today; the first glimpse of winter.

"Yes, it is!"

It was then that Jack, Ianto and Orion chose to walk through the door at the top entrance. Orion was in front and stopped so abruptly that Jack walked into him. He didn't blink. Instead he sniffed the air like a bloodhound and in a quick flurry of motion he vaulted over the railing and jumped down onto the floor of the Hub. A jump that should have killed or seriously injured him. Instead he landed on his feet in a crouch; sniffing the air again he moved quickly. To the people looking on he looked like a predator stalking a prey. Then he spotted Warwyn. He slowly strode over to him/her and proceeded to walk in a circle around him/her. Owen shouted for Toshiko to step away and she grabbed Gwen as she did so. It was clear that something new was at foot.

Orion inhaled his mate's scent, taking a deep whiff of the pheromones s/he was sending out. They finally smelled the way they were supposed to. They smelled… perfect. He kept circling, ready for when Warwyn would make the next move. He didn't have to wait long. It giggled and Jumped. Orion immediately went into tracking mode, delving into their bond to feel the location of his mate. _There! In the archive._ He Jumped there. It laughed and ran a few steps, before Jumping again. This time he found it in Jack's office. He Jumped after it. This repeated itself as he chased his mate all over the Hub.

After the ninth Jump he managed to catch him/her by one flailing arm and Warwyn immediately stilled. They were in the locker room in the basement. Warwyn was staring at him with wide amethyst eyes, as if s/he couldn't believe he had caught him/her so soon. They were both breathing hard from the chase.

"No more running." Orion told him/her. "You are mine, Zuuva." Orion held up his hand in front of his chest in a ninety degree angle. It was a traditional proposal. Warwyn smiled beautifully. S/he knew the answer without a doubt.

"I am yours, Ziwa. As you are mine." S/he grabbed the hand in a similar position, thus accepting the proposal. Orion smiled back at it.

"As I am yours, Zuuva." With formalities out of the way he lent down and kissed his mate. Their bond sang with joy as they relinquished the restraints childhood had imposed on them and their emotions soared. Orion released his own pheromones, targeted at the young nubile creature in his arms. Warwyn felt them flooding his/her system and responded in kind. Their kiss grew passionate and demanding. Orion moved his thigh in between Warwyn's legs, to rub against his/her crotch. S/he groaned at the sensation it caused.

**lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon**

_Sex scene removed to comply with site censorship. The un-censored chapter can be found on my homepage: www . freec . dk / 2910leiv (just remove the spaces). It is in two parts, due to the chapters length._

**lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon lemon**

Orion regained consciousness first and gingerly pulled himself up, so his weight wasn't resting fully on Warwyn. He realised he was still lodged inside him/her and he smiled. They had consummated the bond! Warwyn truly was his now. No one could ever tear them apart again. Warwyn stirred beneath him and soon opened those beautiful amethyst eyes to look up at him. They both smiled.

"I love you." They said as one.


	22. Ch22 The morning after

**This chapter is dedicated to PCJanto and Badly-knitted for their faithful reviewing. Thank you so much guys. And thank you also to everyone reading still.**

Chapter 22 The morning after

Ianto was brewing yet another pot of coffee. They had already gone through the first pot he had made that morning. It had been rather nerve racking for them - _all right… for him - _to wait this long. Orion and Warwyn had disappeared into their room a day and a half ago and had yet to come back out. Toshiko had pulled off some of her tech magic and tracked the kids into the locker room; they had seen the CCTV footage of Orion carrying Warwyn into their room and Toshiko has set up a sensor to monitor the door. Jack's response to the kids' behaviour had been predictable. Ianto had practically had to beat him off with a stick. Jack had kept mumbling something about pheromones in the air and seeing Owen and Toshiko making out in the medical bay was unusual enough for him to think that there might be something about it.

In the end Jack had sent all of them outside into the fresh air. Once outside it was if a fog had lifted and they were all able to think coherently again. He and Jack had spent the night at a hotel before going back into the Hub early this morning. The kids still had not come out. Oh, he had no illusions as to what they were doing, nor was he upset about it. Not really. What bothered him was the fact that they were both so young. They shouldn't be engaging in such adult behaviour so soon. They should be allowed to play and remain children for longer than that. A fifteen month long childhood was just too short and poor Warwyn was even younger than Orion. It – s/he - had only just found his/hers gender. He was soon startled out of his thoughts, by Jack who came and put his arms around him, hugging his waist from behind.

"They're going to be fine." He said, accurately guessing his fiancée's thoughts.

"But they're both so young." Ianto protested turning in Jack's arm to look at him. Jack laughed softly.

"Nothing wrong with starting young." He winked. "I started young too, you know."

"How am I not surprised?" Owen said, stepping into the kitchen in search of his morning coffee.

"Morning Owen. Morning Tosh." He called to the latter whom was passing the kitchen on her way to her workstation. Ianto released himself from Jack's hug and set about finding their cups and getting things ready.

"Any way, just be thankful they're not making you a grandfather already, teaboy." Owen had a slightly malicious glint in his eyes, though only Jack noticed. Ianto was to busy cursing in welsh as he had almost hit his head on the cabinet door. Jack frowned and sent Owen a glare. The snarky doctor just smirked in return. Toshiko appeared in the doorway, having heard the conversation.

"How do you know that they're not?" she asked, suddenly very concerned for the two youths. A teen pregnancy was the last thing they needed to deal with right now. Owen laughed a little at Jack's and Ianto's twin expressions of shock and horror. It wasn't often that he could pull a fast one on the pair of them, other than the cheap shots they had come to expect of him.

"Xarion told me. They're both unfertile until they're about ten years old." Ianto sighed loudly with relief and sagged against Jack who automatically put his arm around his shoulder.

"Well, that's one less worry, then. You know, you could have told us that sooner." Jack glared at Owen, who smirked in satisfaction.

"Now what would be the fun in that?" he said. Before the others could respond, there was the sound of an alarm going off and Tosh hurried over to her workstation. She activated the computer and pressed some buttons and soon stated that the sensor on the kids' door had been activated.

xxXxx

Orion's smile could light up the entire Hub, it was so bright. Warwyn was also smiling back at him; with a look of such utter devotion it made his knees go weak. Warwyn was his and he was Warwyn's. They had just spent a day and half making love over and over again and he was sure that had it not been for their hunger they would have happily stayed in bed. Their bond was singing with their shared happiness and his body, though aching a little from the exertion, was tingling with the remembered pleasure. He had never known how truly amazing it felt to experience it first hand. He had spied on his parents sometimes when training his abilities and knew how great it could be, but to actually experience it for himself… he smiled at Warwyn again, making it blush when it knew his thoughts.

They were almost at the main floor of the Hub, when he just had to kiss his mate again. With a sudden move he swung around and pinned him/her against a wall and kissed him/her. Warwyn smiled into the kiss and kissed back with fervour. Orion was tempted to turn around and head back to their room, when Warwyn's stomach made a loud rumbling noise and they broke the kiss chuckling.

"Come on." He grabbed his/hers hand and pulled him/her along. Warwyn hesitated slightly at the entrance to the main floor, feeling embarrassed, but Orion pulled it along with a smile and a tug on his/her hand. When they entered the main floor it was to the sight of Jack, Ianto, Toshiko and Owen sitting around the coffee table having breakfast. Gwen it seemed hadn't arrived yet. Orion waved at them all and said:

"Morning." Warwyn was blushing and half hiding behind him. The others all looked at them with happy expressions. It was clear they were not put off by what he and Warwyn had been doing.

"See?" he whispered to Warwyn, who smiled softly at him. He pulled him/her with him as he went over to the adults.

"Got room for us?" he asked and they moved around a little to accommodate them. Plates and cups of tea also found their way in front of the pair and soon they were munching on their breakfast. Warwyn refused to let go of Orion's hand, but Orion just worked around it and at one point he brought up their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of Warwyn's. A gesture that wasn't lost on the adults, who discretely cooed and awed, though Owen tried to hide it.

"Oh," Orion suddenly said toward the end of the meal. The adults looked at him. "I think we owe you an apology for the way we've behaved lately." He indicated him self and Warwyn. "We haven't really been our selves. Owen," he looked pointedly at the man who was looking a little cautious at them. "I owe you an apology in particular. I shouldn't have attacked you like I did." Owen cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably.

"That's all right. Didn't do any harm, kid. Just don't do it again." Orion nodded and Warwyn beamed at Owen. It was a relief to know that Orion's family wasn't holding any grudges against them for their behaviour. S/he had been rather nervous about that. The last thing s/he wanted was to drive a wedge between Orion and his family. Toshiko reached out and smilingly stroked Warwyn's hair, causing him/her to smile beatifically at her. A week ago Orion would have been growling angrily at her, but now he just smiled at her and finished his tea. A fact that didn't go unnoticed by the adults either.

Jack and Ianto were looking on in a mixture of pride and love for their son and now also for his mate. Orion had changed and grown so much in such a short time. He had faced such terrible adversity and overcome them and now here he was with his delightful mate and a bright future. Ianto grabbed Jack's hand in an unconscious mirror of their son and alien-hermaphrodite-in-law. Jack smiled back at him.

"Arghh, I think I'm going to be sick." Owen sent them a pretend disgusted look. He was holding Toshiko's hand discretely, so the others wouldn't notice his lapse into fluffiness. Ianto rolled his eyes at him.

"Physician, heal thy self." Jack stated and kissed his Ianto on the forehead. The others snickered as Owen hmphed.

That was when Xarion decided to arrive. The breakfast scene was broken up and they were scrambling each their separate way to get on with the days task, when Xarion whistled and got their attention.

"I have some news." He said as they all stopped what they were doing. "We have reason to believe, that we may have found your missing people." Pandemonium broke out as everyone was asking him questions at once. He held up his hand for silence.

"We have analyzed the data on Lartorc's ships computer and managed to track the energy signature on its way to the location. As you may know any transmat can be traced, for security purposes, in case a person being transported ends up in the wrong place." Toshiko, Warwyn and Jack were nodding. Ianto and Orion looked interested and Owen looked bored. "We were finally able to break through the encryption codes and sort out the tracking program and the recorded data. We believe that the transported people were brought to this planet." He held up a holographic projector and activated it to show a brown-green planet. "I am not familiar with your designation of the planet, but my people refer to it as Sigmatu 19. It's relatively close to Earth, about the same distance as Hallow IV is to Earth, but in the opposite direction. I've been sent to ask if you wanted to come along to investigate." He smiled.

xxXxx

The planet of Sigmatu 19 floated calmly in space outside the window of the craft. Jack was seated in one seat with Gwen in the other. The Micurii'an commander and Saluvian pilot were occupying the remaining seats. It had been a short journey; just a single Jump to bring them here and now they were waiting for the scans to be complete and show them where to find the population they were looking for. It turned out to not be difficult. 161 mio. people were rather difficult to overlook.

When they flew down, they were shocked by the horrendous conditions the people had suffered under. Lartorc had dumped them all in one place without food, water or shelter. They literally only had with them what had been on their body when they were transported. People at the outer edge of the population had been able to forage for food and drink, but those in the centre had the choice of starving or trying to pass through the crowd, which would be a several day long journey due to the sheer number of people.

To make matters worse there were various groups of military, police and militia who were armed and taking advantage of the situation. Crime and abuse of power was rampant and the government was all but non existent. People had rallied together in enclaves or small groups, seeking protection and strength in numbers, while others had tried to survive on their own.

Jack frowned. He had seen this type of behaviour before on a colony world where the social structure had collapsed and left a primitive survival of the fittest society in its stead. The place had been marked by anarchy and a total absence of morality; it had been a place where children would murder their parents for a weapon and adults would hunt the children for food. He shuddered at the memories and hoped that things had not regressed as much here.

They brought the craft down near a rocky area a short distance from the people. The Bangladeshi people were staring at the craft in fear, which was hardly surprising since they – most likely - had never seen a spaceship before. Gwen wanted to rush out and calm them down, but Jack managed to restrain her. Instead he and the two aliens, the Micurii'an commander Reny and the Saluvian pilot Morchak, sat down and discussed a strategy. Finally a plan of action had been agreed upon and they were ready to set it in motion.

Reny activated the speaker system and nodded to Jack. He drew in a deep breath and spoke into the handheld communicator tied to the system.

"Greetings people of Bangladesh." He hoped enough of them spoke English. Sometimes he really missed the Tardis and its translations abilities. He smiled, knowing a great big holographic image of him was floating above the spacecraft.

"My name is Captain Jack Harkness. I am human, just like you and have come from Earth to find you." On the monitor he could see the people responding, talking excitedly and pointing at his image and at the spacecraft. "This ship belongs to some friends of ours who have agreed to help us. There is no need to be afraid. We only wish to help." He paused and looked at the screen to see if there was any sign of a mass panic. Often when you told someone not to panic, they would go ahead and do exactly that. But other than the natural apprehension and distrust there were no untoward displays of unreasonable fear.

"You were transported here by a mad man called Lartorc. He is now dead. Unfortunately the technology he used to bring you here has been destroyed also. We are trying to find the means to bring you back home to Earth, should you wish it." Again he paused, this time to let his words sink in. It was true. They were searching for another device such as the one Lartorc had used, but the technology was extremely rare and costly. So far they had not found any who possessed it. They did however have a number of ships and could evacuate approximately 100.000 people at a time. But the process with loading and unloading the ships would be painstakingly long in duration. It would also cause a real headache in terms of keeping it a secret from the rest of the world, though Jack was willing to let the rest of the world think what it would, if these people could go home.

"You have a choice now. We can bring you back to Earth or you can remain here and build a new society." He let the words sink in. "We can offer you some basic supplies and tools, but most of the work will be done by you. We offer you no guaranties of any kind. What you make of your life here is up to you. Thank you." The communications system was cut off. They would replay the message several times as they flew over the crowds, to ensure that as many as possible heard it. Then they called in their findings to the command centre on Hallow IV.

A few hours' later three larger ships arrived loaded with food, bottled water, blankets, tents and other necessities. The ships would fly over, light up an area and send out a high pitched frequency to scatter the people within the lit up area and then they would transmat the stuff in. A new display of anarchy occurred around the supplies as some would try and hoard the stuff. Jack had been rather amused at one ship commander's solution. The man has simply tranmatted the food away from the hoarders and set it down in a new area a small distance away. The method was soon applied at all the drop sites and the people soon caught on.

Jack had never been more appreciative of the Micurii'an and Saluvian emergence response forces than he was then. They had the stuff already loaded on the ships and had only needed to scramble some crew and could go anywhere with their hyper Jump technology. It would take them longer to accumulate and load the equipment needed for mass colonizing a planet in such large numbers, just as it would take a long time to bring everyone home again. But if it hadn't been for them, then the Bangladeshi would have been stranded without help.

When more ships arrived they held more meetings to determine what needed doing and in which order. It was decided that the people needed to be split up physically, since the large population crowding together in one place was too dangerous, both in terms of violence but also in terms of lack of sanitation. They would tell the people to go to some designated areas to the north, west and east. To the south was a large mountain range and the weather was too severe. Those that went to the east and west would stay on the planet and those choosing to go home to Earth would go to the north. The old, the sick, the injured and those otherwise unable to travel would remain and would be contacted directly. Thus the first mass migration on Sigmatu 19 started.

Those that opted to remain were each granted a standard package of items, consisting of such things as a blanket, knife, axe, shovel, metal pot, pan and water bottle. Even the youngest children were entitled to such a package, though most often the parents would hold onto them. Each package also contained a map of the continent, with a small picture of the world in one corner and a second map showing a more detailed look of the general region they were in.

Jack had been amazed to discover that all these packages were created by civilian Saluvians and Micurii'ans, who used their abilities to transform stones and blades of grass into useful objects. It was a massive undertaking, but he never heard any complaints or grumblings from their allies. When he later discussed it with Xarion the young man had just smiled and said that they had themselves been pulled back from the brink of annihilation and how the Goddess had granted them the ability to transform themselves and objects around them, so that they may help themselves and others lead better lives. By helping the Bangladeshi they had been reminded of how good they had it and how generous their Goddess was. It was their duty to emulate her generosity, he had said. Jack knew a similar thought lay behind a lot of the relief and social work on Earth. What ever the motivation, he was glad that the people got some help.

It took several months before all the Bangladeshi' were returned to Earth, much to the discontent of those who had had their eyes set on the vacant land and properties. About two fifths had opted to return making it a total of about 64,5 mill. people that needed to be brought home. It had been a massive undertaking and they had not been able to keep it quiet from the world. The media interest had been enormous, but Jack had managed to keep Torchwood's involvement out of the public eye. The Saluvians and Micurii'ans refused to deal with any government officials, no matter how hard they tried. Instead they talked with Torchwood, who dealt with UNIT and UNIT handled the rest of the world. It worked somehow.

It was not without incident and UNIT had to step up to the plate a few times and enforce the Bangladeshi' rights to their land and their supremacy as a nation. The Bangladeshi government struggled to maintain law and order and it took a long while before the dust settled again. But in the end that region stabilised as focus was drawn elsewhere, on the border disputes between India and Pakistan and as trouble in the Middle East once again stole the headlines. The Saluvians and Micurii'ans continued to help the new colony of humans on Sigmatu 19 for a whole year until they slowly withdrew and let them get on with it by them selves.

**Yay, the Bangladeshi are missing no more. I couldn't just leave them to a fate unknown, now could I? **

**With their return I fear we are almost at the story's end. **

**Chapter 21 was the chapter that sparked this entire verse and I am going to miss Orion and Warwyn. **

**I only have the epilogue left and then it's on to other stories *sighs* **

**(I feel as if my baby has grown up and is leaving home).**


	23. Ch23 Epilogue

**This final chapter – or epilogue rather – is dedicated to all the readers of this story. It's been a real pleasure.**

Chapter 23 Epilogue

Ianto stood at the window looking out at the swirling snow blowing past the frozen windowpane. He was stuck out in the middle of nowhere at a castle in north Wales. It was mid-February, Valentines Day, in fact. Not that they had ever made a big deal out of it. Jack had always frowned upon the overly commercial influence and remarked how he didn't understand the need to isolate the love to just one single day. But Ianto had still managed to easily persuade him to go on dates on Valentines Day; the man was a romantic at heart no matter how he tried to disguise it behind the sexual obsession. He smiled. Today they would have the most important date of all. One he couldn't be late for.

Rhiannon had been running around ragged; screaming at the caterer and arguing with the decorator. Everything had to be perfect, '_even if she has to kill somebody to get it that way_.' He added mentally. He was glad though that she had taken charge of the whole thing. They had been too busy, what with the rift acting up, the whole Bangladeshi debacle, Orion and Warwyn, and with Gwen being pregnant.

Especially that last bit had thrown them for a loop. They had been overjoyed for her and Rhys, but it had caused some sleepless nights speculating how they were going to deal with her pulled off the field duty roster. In the end they had invited Martha Jones and Mickey Smith to join Torchwood. They were also considering a few other possible applicants, but so far the decision had yet to be made. Martha and Mickey had both accepted and were nearing the end of their training period. Already the team had benefitted from the reduced hours and the almost regular days off they now enjoyed. If a few more people were added it would be possible for them to have two teams on rotation. That was however a still a way off. Still, it was nice to dream of the vacation he and Jack might be able to go on or the nights when they could stay in bed instead of chasing weevils through dark alleys and empty parks.

There was a knock on the heavy oak door, followed by it opening. A familiar head poked in. Ianto smiled greatly upon seeing his son's bondmate.

"Warwyn! Come in! When did you get here?" he said ecstatically. Warwyn beamed at him and came over and gave him a heartfelt hug.

"Just now. I wanted to see you before… Oh, look at you! You look gorgeous." S/he said as they pulled out of the hug. S/he twirled his/her finger in a silent order for him to spin around and let him/her admire him from every angle. Ianto rolled his eyes overbearingly and spun slowly. It was true that he looked good. He was in a light grey tux with matching tie and sash, and with a red rose attached to the lapel. He had vetoed the top hat, when Rhiannon had presented him with it, though.

"Thank you," he said with a smile. "So you think Jack will like me in this?" He and Warwyn shared a look.

"Please, Jack would like you dressed in a sack or better yet, in nothing at all." They both laughed.

"So where's Orion? Isn't he with you?" he asked when they had quieted down a little.

"Oh, he got shanghaied by Owen. Apparently there was some crisis in Jack's dressing room and Owen felt out of his depth to deal with it." Ianto paled a little. _Was Jack having cold feet? Had something happened?_

"W.. what kind of crisis?" he asked suddenly feeling nervous. Warwyn realised his/her mistake and rushed to set his mind at ease.

"Oh, no! It's nothing bad. Just a case of nerves and some spilt coffee. Nothing Orion can't handle. He's getting really good, you know." The pride in his/her voice was clear. Ianto breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at his… ehm son/daughter-in-law.

"Yeah, I know... But what happened?" his tone of voice was dripping with tolerant longsuffering. Warwyn smiled. His/her father-in-law wasn't that easily distracted.

"Owen cracked a joke about you bailing out at the last minute and Jack took it seriously and knocked a cup of coffee over, spilling it all over himself and his tux." Warwyn smiled reminiscing lovingly. "When we arrived, Owen was running for dear life and ducking from the coffee mug being flung at him and Jack was throwing a tantrum." s/he chuckled.

"Poor Jack." Ianto whispered, even as his lips curled upwards.

"It's fine now. Orion's gotten him to calm down and is cleaning up the mess the coffee made." His/her eyes went unfocused for a brief moment, a sign of them using the bond to communicate. Then his/her gaze returned to look at Ianto and a smile appeared on his/her lovely androgynous features.

S/he was sporting a shorter hairstyle, than when Ianto had last seen Warwyn, though the style could still belong to either a male or a female. It was short and dark at the neck and longer at top, with blond, brunet and purple highlights. The eyes were still the natural purple that Orion liked so much. Amethysts he called them, Ianto remembered with a smile. Then he noticed the ears. They weren't human any longer. He turned Warwyn's face with one gentle hand to get a better look. They were pointed. He sent Warwyn a questioning look. S/he blushed a little and smiled shyly.

"Orion likes them." s/he said softly. Ianto couldn't help the understanding smile on his face. He was himself wearing a particular type of undergarment today just because it was Jack's favourite.

"Just remember to look human later." He watched as Warwyn's smile faded. "Unless you want everyone to know what you are." He amended. Since the joint rescue and return of the Bangladeshi nationals the world had know about the existence of extraterrestrials and even about Saluvians and Micurii'ans. But that only meant that the off world visitors found it rather difficult to walk about in peace. People would point and stare, some would pester them to talk, and others were fearful and would lash out.

He knew that had played a part in the young couple's decision to leave Earth and go to Hallow IV. Warwyn in particular had had a bit of trouble dealing with the need for secrecy and the inability to change gender and form in public. When ever they had gone out side, s/he had to pick a gender and a look and use that specific form each time. Orion had taken Warwyn on a date twice to the same restaurant, first with Warwyn in female form and later in male form. The restaurant owner had glared at Orion the entire time during their second visit and had made malicious comments about Orion being a two-timing disgusting fag, cheating on his girlfriend with the girlfriend's brother. After that Warwyn always picked the same male human form. But that didn't protect them from the bigotry and abuse from people who were against gays.

Xarion had been asked by the masters of the Forth House to invite Orion to join them as an acolyte. A similar offer had been made to Warwyn from the Third House, also known as the house of creation. After some deliberation on the matter they had accepted to go to Hallow IV when Warwyn was of age. They had all been sad to see them go, but as Johnny had said "All kids leave home sooner or later."

Ianto and Jack had actually visited them in their new home in a small village some 70 kilometres from the capital and their places of study. Xarion had arranged for them to rent a nice house with a small garden in the same village where he also lived with his own family. That made Ianto feel a bit better, knowing Xarion was close by to help them and keep an eye on them.

"Oh! Orion says it's almost time. Are you ready?" He drew in a deep breath and smiled as he exhaled.

"Oh yeah, I've been ready for a long time."

xxXxx

Every one in the castle fell silent as the two grooms appeared in doorways on opposite sides of the vast entrance hall. They were dressed in matching light grey tuxes and both had a red rose on the lapel. Ianto was escorted by Warwyn and Jack by Orion. They met at the bottom of the stairs in the centre of the hall. The guests consisting of family, friends and colleagues were gathered in the hall to bear witness to their wedding.

When Ianto's eyes met Jack's the rest of the world seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of them. Jack was smiling his huge charming smile at him, his eyes full of emotion. He couldn't believe they had actually come to this, after all the doubts and the fighting they had done earlier in their relationship. Before his desperate ultimatum for Jack to choose him or not. Before Orion.

"Hello gorgeous." Jack whispered to him as he took his hand and they took the few steps up on the landing together. He smiled. The man radiated calm, love and desire, but he was the also the man who had caused nervous chaos in the dressing room less than an hour ago.

"Hello your self." He replied, making sure to put a sufficient amount of desire in his voice to make Jack crazy. Jack's smile changed a little and his eyes flashed with lust. Then they found them selves on the landing in front of the magistrate. The middle-aged woman smiled at them, her business suit crisp and not a hair out of place. With a perfect sense of timing she began:

"Dearly beloved. We are gathered today to join Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones in a civil partnership." Ianto didn't really listen as she talked on about love and the responsibilities of marriage. So absorbed by Jack's loving eyes was he that he almost missed the time when she asked him for his consent. It was only the slight flicker of panic in Jack's eyes that alerted him of his near slip up and he hurriedly replied:

"I do." And was rewarded with a huge grin and watery eyes on the man in front of him.

Then it was Jack's turn and his firm:

"You bet I do!" echoed in his ears as he felt his own eyes fill dangerously with happy tears.

Somewhere in the background he heard his sister blowing her nose. She always cried at weddings. He fumbled as he placed the ring on Jack's finger almost shaking too much to do so. He was in a happy daze as Jack gently put the ring on his finger as well. Then they were told to kiss and Jack grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him close.

"Your mine now." He whispered and kissed him passionately. Ianto responded after a brief moment and kissed him back. The crowd cheered delightedly and when their kissing continued the cheers turned to catcalls and wolfs whistles. In the end the magistrate had to subtly tap them on the shoulder to remind them of where they were and that they were not alone. Jack leered at him and Ianto was just too happy to be embarrassed, as they turned to face the guests as Mr. and Mr. Harkness-Jones.

Orion beamed at them while hugging his mate close. As soon as his newly-wedded parents stepped down from the stairs he flung himself into their arms, followed closely by Warwyn and then by the rest of the well wishers.

Ianto had never felt happier.

The end

* * *

><p><strong>So, this is the end. The whole saga began with Ianto finding Orion, and it ends with them as well.<strong>

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**Okay, you know what you have to do now. That's right. Review people! :-)**


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